Originally Posted by
Klsytakesit
Took us 7 years to get the APUOD program and it is expensive. Alaska claims it is worth it but it cant be much more than break even. Best part of it is the APU’s are so well maintained that we never see APU inop mel’s
I don't know what the full hourly costs (to include maintenance and overhaul) of the 737 APU are, but the full cost is probably in the area of double the fuel cost.
The biggest cost of the continuously running APU is for flights that routinely depart at max structural gross weight. Then you have to reduce payload (pax) by the weight of the APU fuel burn planned. Call it 1? 2? pax kicked off for each hour of planned APU operation. Depending on ticket prices, this can add up fast.
Joe