ASAP News - May 02, 2008

As airlines continue to try and find ways to remain viable and profitable in a world where their most important expenditure, fuel, is hitting record prices almost on a weekly basis, they’re having to get creative. The latest in a wave of reports on how airlines are managing to cope with the $120 oil barrel, some carriers are slowing down flights in a bid to economise gas.

The routes aren’t suffering drastically for it, and a recent flight from Minneapolis and Paris saved $535 by adding eight minutes onto the flight time. JetBlue’s Dave Fuller says, “It’s not a dramatic change,” noting that JetBlue began flying slower almost two years ago. Adding four minutes to the airline’s flights between the continental US and Hawaii saves over $600,000 a year. One American flyer says, “Anything that helps the airlines, you know, because they’re going bankrupt left and right. Anything that helps them out will probably be good for the industry in the long term.”

Source: http://www.asap.co.uk/news/airlines-slow-down-to-save-fuel-5632748.html

ASAP News - May 23, 2008 by Jamie Barnett

Last Thursday, the price of oil topped $135 a barrel, causing havoc across the globe. That is double what it was at the same time last year and as a result, the travel industry may see even more airlines continue to fold this year. Last week, Air France-KLM announced that rising fuel prices were significantly cutting into its operating profit, which was likely to drop by about a third this year. All-business-class airline Silverjet failed to secure some important funding and as a result, suspended trading on its shares. Like other airlines, fuel costs are continuing to cause problems for Silverjet, despite the business class clientele.

Goldman Schas, an investment bank, predicted this week that oil prices would continue to rise, warning consumers and businesses alike to expect a barrel of oil to sell for as much as $200 in the next six months to two years.

Michael O’Leary, the CEO for budget airline Ryanair was asked if he thought $200 a barrel was likely. “Anything is possible,” he said. “But do I think it’s sustainable? No. Whatever the forces driving oil prices up, $150 per barrel looks more likely than $100 over the next few months.” Already Ryanair, like other airlines, is struggling with the high fuel prices. “Clearly our profits would be massively impacted if oil hit $200 a barrel,” said O’Leary. “They already have been massively impacted. Our oil bill will double this year but we still expect to be profitable.” According to O’Leary, only four airlines would be able to survive an economy where oil sold for $200 a barrel. Those airlines would be British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Ryanair. “Such a scenario would be great for Ryanair as we would be one of the airlines that would still be in business,” said O’Leary. “Clearly a lot of airlines would go bust if oil hit $200 a barrel. It would also mean the world would hit a recession. People would get more price sensitive so they would choose to fly with us.”

Source: http://www.asap.co.uk/news/when-oil-hits-200-a-barrel%e2%80%a6-5632868.html

GreenBiz.com, 11 June 2008 –

Airlines have recently announced fees for checked luggage, flight reductions and jobs cuts in their bid to offset rising fuel prices. Behind the scenes, they are studying their business operations to find ways of becoming more efficient to take the sting out of fuel costs that have risen nearly 85 percent compared to last year. Fuel now accounts for about 40% of a typical airline ticket, compared to 15% eight years ago.

According to the New York Times, American and Southwest have taken to scrubbing a few jet engines every night to eliminate the drag caused by dirt and debris. The process, which used to be done only during thorough maintenance overhauls, has saved Southwest $1.6 million in fuel costs since April. American predicts the practice will shave $330.7 million from its $9.26 billion fuel bill this year.

Delta is also cruising at slightly lower speeds and altering landing procedures in certain instances to use less fuel. For instance, the company has its jets steadily descend into the Atlanta and Cincinnati airports during red-eye flights, rather than the step pattern followed during busy hours. Older jets are being either retired or replaced with more fuel-efficient models.

Airlines are also toying with ways to make airplanes lighter, such as using a quarter less water for bathroom faucets and toilets in international flights and replacing seats and drink carts with lighter versions. “Every 25 pounds we remove, we save $440,000 a year,” Tim McGraw, Northwest's director of corporate environmental and safety programs, told the publication.

Source: http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MzAzNTg

Related:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aZzBC6TcH1FA&refer=germany

http://www.corporateresponsibility.net/2008/06/12/to-save-fuel-airlines-find-no-speck-too-small/

ASAP News - July 11, 2008 by Andrew Mayer

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have announced plans to modify air craft in an effort to make them more fuel efficient as the price of oil continues to rise. Some things the airlines are considering doing are replacing particular parts with new parts made of lightweight plastic. Both airlines are also considering restricting the amount of water carried aboard each flight. US Airways has recently announced that they will remove movie systems from nearly 200 aircraft in an attempt to save fuel. The entertainment system that provides the movies to flyers weights approximately 500 pounds. The system will only be removed for aircraft flying domestically and will remain on aircraft flying long haul flights. A spokesperson for US Airways has said that they will begin testing a lightweight system to be placed in chair backs toward the end of the year but the upgrade is still a long ways off.

The British Air Transport Association’s spokesperson said regarding the change that “Airlines are looking at all sorts of ways to try to cut down costs, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that US Airways have done this. It really is a sign of the times. I guess they feel that people travelling short haul can live without it for a few hours. It’s just that the price of fuel is such now that airlines are looking to make cuts wherever they can. However, as most British airlines tend to carry this equipment only on long flights, I doubt they will go to the same lengths.”

Source: http://www.asap.co.uk/news/airlines-taking-addition-measures-to-save-costs-on-flights-5633173.html

Related: http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/travel-resources/travel-news/airline-and-transport-news/environmental-impact-of-flights-not-a-major-issue-for-passengers-/a-3-145-903/

Caribbean Net News - July 18, 2008

GEORGETOWN, Guyana: The travelling public has been complaining over the recent significant increase in airline fares and the concomitant impact it is having on them, leading to Guyana's Minister of Tourism Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad convening a meeting with stakeholders of the airline industry to discuss this and other issues. “Our meeting here is to address the issues of not only high fares but people taking advantage of the situation…because of the complaints we have been getting. The government will not allow any airline or travel agent to rip off the consuming public,” Prashad said.

Managers from Delta, Caribbean Airlines, LIAT, Meta Airlines, and TravelSpan attended the meeting. Delta Airlines’ General Manager of the local office, Junior Horatio said that they received the complaint yesterday about agents ‘hiking’ the fares and they will now launch a full investigation. Prashad acknowledged that there has been a significant increase in air fares, however, he said that this is not only due to the rise in fuel cost but that agents have been taking advantage of the situation. “They (the agents) are charging more than the airlines; some agents bought in advance, ‘block-booking’ of tickets and now they are selling higher than the price of the airline themselves,” Minister Prashad said. “The ministry will not allow Guyanese consumers to be ripped off and that is why we are insisting and have agreed that the airlines will not advertise fares without the taxes… the advertisements must be clear.”

He announced that a meeting will be held with the travel agents to ensure that they also follow the rules and the fares they are offering are not higher that the airlines and called on the public to report instances of overcharging to the Consumers Affairs department of the Ministry and an investigation will be conducted. Plans for increased flights were also discussed at the meeting; however, the airlines have opined that they will need to know the numbers and destinations before this can be done. Some of the airlines have reported that they are already fully booked for the CARIFESTA period. “CARIFESTA is right in the peak season and all the flights are fully booked, how much is CARIFESTA travel is something we are discussing,” Caribbean Airlines General Manager Carlton Defour said.

Prashad noted that the airlines have responded well as some have added additional flights. He indicated that he is proposing to the airlines to have charter flights. He disclosed that a participating country has contacted him to facilitate a charter for a 70-member contingent. The Tourism Minister indicated that he has requested that the airlines accommodate passengers with their banners, flags, posters and other festival materials. “We are working closely with them to ensure that they perform effectively during the peak season as it relates to baggage also…to not leave the baggage behind, as it is a tremendous inconvenience for passengers,” the Minister said.

Source: http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-9214--13-13--.html

ASAP News - July 27, 2008 by Andrew Bones

The latest announcements on flights reductions into and out of Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports have not come as a surprise to passengers, according to recent reports. The rising cost of fuel and the weakening American economy have been listed as the main reasons that numbers at O’Hare International Airport have declined by 4.2% during the first half of 2008, industry experts commented. Arrivals and departures at O’Hare Departures dropped from 461,661 during the first six months of 2007 to 442,136 in the same period this year, according to a report released by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration this past week.

Chicago’s Midway Airport experienced an even steeper drop of 9.6%. The actual figures showed 151,414 flights for the period at Midway in 2007, as compared to 136,827 during the first six months in 2008. Of the five major U.S. airports, O’Hare was hit the hardest. Denver International Airport showed a growth of 3.2% in the number of flights for the period. United Airlines officials have been reported as saying that the numbers aren’t surprising. United, which is based at O’Hare, is retiring 100 aircraft from service and reducing its domestic capacity by around 16.5%. “This is related to the spike in fuel costs,” commented a United spokeswoman, Megan McCarthy. American Airlines is also in the process of reducing capacity at O’Hare and other airports as well.

Source: http://www.asap.co.uk/news/chicago-airports-blame-reduced-flights-on-fuel-costs-5633279.html
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The previous discussions of this thread were centred around the high price of oil (and therefore fuels) around July 2008. While those issues may have abated with the subsequent declines in the oil prices, new issues have emerged in relation to the subsequent economic events

From SET Energy - December 02, 2008

Delta just announced they plan to cut their flights 6-8% in 2009. Other airlines appear poised for similar announcements as the deepening recession cuts passenger demand. Therefore, 2009 could be another year of sharp greenhouse gas emission reductions similar to the ~2.5% 2008 drop.

With yesterday’s report that November US industrial production contracted at the fastest rate since 1982, it appears US fossil fuel consumption will continue to fall. This will lower prices of the fuels and make goals such as 1990 emissions by 2020 much more easy to imagine us achieving.

Read Full Article: http://setenergy.org/2008/12/02/airlines-cut-more-2009-flights-climate-emissions-to-fall/
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