Airlines Shaving Costs Everywhere They Can
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island 
on 04. 6.08
We recently covered truckers protesting the high price of diesel, but truckers aren't the only people concerned about rising fuel costs. Airlines, whose largest expense is now fuel, are taking action, and they are doing more than cutting flights to save fuel; they are actually "going over their planes with a fine tooth comb and tossing anything that isn't absolutely necessary" in a desperate bid to save weight and fuel. Here are some examples:
US Airways is chucking meal carts and replacing them with models that are 12 pounds lighter. They've also tossed the glassware in first class in favor of less jet-set but lighter plastic cups. Carriers also are pulling magazine racks, trash compactors and ovens...American Airlines has all but called in Jenny Craig to shave weight from its fleet, pulling in-seat phones and their heavy wiring, removing lavatory power converters and investing in lighter silverware for business class passengersSo does all this make a difference?
The airlines sure seem to think so. US Airways claims that its "lighter beverage carts will save $1.7 million in annual fuel costs," and "American expects to cut fuel consumption by 111 million gallons through its weight reduction efforts." Of course, several airlines have been taking some heat lately for flying empty or near-empty planes. But with three airlines going belly up in the past few weeks it seems the airlines will have to do everything in their power to save money. . . How about bean bag chairs in cattle-class? Now that would be a win-win situation!
Via: ::Wired (Blog)
See Also: ::With Diesel at $4 a Gallon, Truckers Are Slowing Down, ::World's First 100% Biodiesel Jet Flight, ::British Activists Satirize Government, Airline Industry, ::US Airlines Must Pay the Price of Carbon Emissions or Lose EU Flights, ::Airline Industry's 'Risible' Attempt at Carbon Offsetting, and ::Airline Industry Aims for 'Zero Emissions'
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Haha maybe they should offer discounts to people who aren't obese...
Enough airlines should go under that the rest can really jack up the rates. Flying is wasteful.
"Haha maybe they should offer discounts to people who aren't obese..."
You laugh, but it could be coming. Just don't expect a discount, only surcharges.
They already do charge extra for overweight people, and it's been a huge scandal because there's no set rules for it. Basically if they think you're too fat to comfortably fit in one seat, they'll charge you for two.
In some cases, people have gone on a flight with only one seat, and when attempting to return home the airline personnel AT THE AIRPORT have deemed it necessary for them to purchase a second ticket before they're allowed to board. This inconsistency has led to several lawsuits already.
Since I live in the other side of the world, I hope that buzz saw is wrong. My husband and I go home to see our families for 3 months out of the year and it is hard enough to save up the money for the flight. They talk about empty or half empty planes, but that is never my experience.
They have scales to weigh luggage so why not scales to weigh people? If a person doesn't have a disability and is obese then they should pay extra.
Well "technically" being obese IS a disability. What separates it from most other disabilities is that it makes you more expensive to transport by air and it's largly preventable.
I'm all for charging more though. America spends more on dieting than what it would cost to feed the world.
As for shedding weight to improve fuel economy, of course it'll help, because you need less energy to move less stuff. Duh.
Well "technically" being obese IS a disability. What separates it from most other disabilities is that it makes you more expensive to transport by air and it's largly preventable.
I'm all for charging more though. America spends more on dieting than what it would cost to feed the world.
As for shedding weight to improve fuel economy, of course it'll help, because you need less energy to move less stuff. Duh.
The solution is clear: all passengers should pedal their excess weight during flight. Windows down of course.
Perhaps they should make ALL luggage carry a surcharge - even carry on. Too many people cart around a ton of stuff on their travels because "its free". If shaving 15 lbs of a food cart or two (or even twenty) can save $1.7 million I'm guessing charging surcharges for all luggage will save them hundreds of millions and as a result lower costs for all of us. Remember folks, its basic economics - free goods are bad for everyone in the end because they really aren't free.
Surcharges on all luggage?!?!
do you realise how much you have to pay for flying? the reason why theyre cutting weight is to try to 'get back' the money from high oil prices.
they never dont make money, just less profit than before. its all greed, the last thing u want is having to $5 per kg/pound on top what ever other charges and the $1000-2500 for the flight.
It's not as much profit per flight as you might think. I recently saw a documentary on one of the news networks where they broke everything down, and some of their flights were profiting as little as $200 each. A few extra pounds of luggage multiplied by the number of passengers could really drag down that profit and waste a lot of fuel.
Its really funny that nobody brings this up....... How about we become less dependent on oil. Gotta start somewhere! Why not know? How about for once in peoples lives they have to be proactive, NOT reactive!!
There is a very neglected weight problem no one seems to address. I took the April issue of one in-flight magazine and weighed it at three-quarters of a pound. Multiplied by 175 seats and then by the 3,800 flights the airline has each day, the total is 498,750 pounds. How much fuel is spent on flying half a million pounds or paper each day, or 200 million pounds each year. Add the magazines of 5 or 6 airlines, that would be a billion pounds a year. Incredible waste of paper and fuel.
As passengers are being hit for surcharges and fees for extra bags, the airlines are flying around millions of pounds of paper containing trivial editorial and silly ads. The magazine is an item that the passengers don't even have a choice about. I notice that most passengers don't even look at them. Maybe the airlines could stop wasting paper and fuel. Or at least not stuff these magazines in the seat pockets. The could offer them in the waiting areas and let those who want them carry them aboard.
Americans need to value resources. Cutting back on magazines will help save the environment.