Originally Posted by
Lowlevel
This whole thread is just ridiculous! Take this example:
COMAIR
1) Only DCI airline to run PPASS, a fuel savings system that was designed to save fuel by flying sloooooow. Ever wonder why you are flying a Dash 8 and catching up to a Comair CRJ? Some of the cruise altitude speeds are just amazing, .62 or .64 at 35K! There you are, flying a jet, high altitude, and doing 210 indicated! If you fly slow, you take longer to get where you're going, thus costing more to operate (crew pay, maintenance, etc.) so where the savings comes from is just smoke and mirrors (you show fuel savings, but cost more to operate, but HEY WE SAVED FUEL!) Or did we? If I fly at .78 and get there in 2 hours vs .62 and 2.5 hours of fuel burn, how much is actually saved?
2) Comair has an APU program and most of the CVG crews are big on this. They pull in, no ground A/C, on a 95 degree day, and shut down! If you were in the back of a plane with 69 other people in front of you before you could get out of this ever increasingly hot tin can, would you fly Delta again? If you had a meeting you're headed for, and you get off soaking with sweat, would you chose that airline again. Lost customers=lost income. And no, ground does not hook up external A/C at most OH stations.
3) Comair planes use single engine taxi, thus saving fuel
4) Comair engines are not started until after being pushed back (at CVG), not during the push back, thus fuel savings.
And after all these amazing fuel saving programs, Delta says Comair is STILL THE MOST EXPENSIVE REGIONAL THEY HAVE.
AND, here is the best part.....298 furloughed pilots and around 50 furloughed FA's! Comair's pilot numbers are down 700 since 2005! And guess what, it ain't over yet! More furloughs expected in Autumn!
So, what did we learn?
1. Saving fuel WILL NOT SAVE YOUR JOB
2. Not using the APU will **** off customers and your airline will lose income
3. Saving a few gallons of fuel by not using the APU will not save your airline.
This is some funny stuff!!! All this "fuel saving" junk that Comair comes up with is insane. You've gotta be kidding me!!!! Has Comair ever heard of the back side of the power curve? If this whole "flying slow" thing were such a great fuel saving idea, don't you think airplane manufacturers or other airlines would be pushing this way of flying? This is also the same airline that has probably around 20 jets just sitting on the ramp on any given day in CVG. I wonder how much money the company hemmorages on leases for all those aircraft? This also comes from the same airline that will call in a reserve crew in the middle of the night to fly an empty RJ to an outstation to drop off a replacement flight attendant.
Also, just to keep you in the loop, all the other DCI regionals are doing the other fuel savings techniques. Well... except for the flying slow thing. I flew at Skywest for over seven years and not once did we fly an empty jet with a flight attendant on board to cover a sick call.
I do agree with you.... this whole thread is ridiculous. If the cabin is uncomfortable, cool it down! Try to find ground air and if you can't, fiire the APU. We have to keep the pax comfortable, though. That's what they pay us for. I'm all for saving gas, but keeping customers happy is the best job security.