Airlines shed weight as fuel costs soar

[kpc]

TOKYO (AFP) - Next time you take to the skies you may find there are fewer pages in your in-flight magazine, your fork is slimmer and your plate feels different. Blame it on soaring oil prices. The seat you are sitting on may be lighter. Perhaps there's less water on board for the bathroom faucets and toilets. The drinks trolley coming your way probably weighs less too.
It's all part of efforts by airlines to shed weight and conserve fuel, running in tandem with more radical steps such as cutting routes and capacity.
"Individually they may sound quite trivial but they all add up," said Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

Airlines shed weight as fuel costs soar - Yahoo! News

 

[bambbbam2]

Just think - if they remove just 1 olive from each martini served..

oh wait, wrong anecdote.

 

[Standby]

Not sure if this belongs here but I'm sure i saw in a travel site today that CX were dropping the weight limit for ecy baggage on flights to/from the US by about 10KGs down to 23kgs..then excess
I'm not sure but I thought to/from the US was a piece limit ie 2 pcs..I'm sure there are many more experts on this matter..either way may end up being a surprise on checkin

 

[oz_mark]

I read it as still 2 pieces, just that they must not be more that 23 kg, down from 32 kg.

e-Travel Blackboard: Cathay Pacific revises free baggage allowance for economy class passengers flying to North America

 

[JG1]

Be prepared for other airlines to follow suit. The bi-lateral luggage agreement that exists with all countries whose airlines fly into the Americas that has, up until now, provided a VERY generous luggage allowance for economy class passengers is coming to a close. Triggered by 2 things:

1) Cost of fuel. An average of 8 tonnes of checked-in luggage on every 747 and that equates to a lot of fuel.

2) Lack of freight space on a/c flying into the US.

As I understand, there is a US Government directive involved in this decision to reduce luggage allowances (this on the freight situation), so airlines will have no option but to follow suit.

 

[kpc]

Aussie airlines losing weight to cut hefty fuel bills

I like this:mrgreen::

There is even speculation heavier travellers may have to get on the scales and be asked to pay more to fly.

Aussie airlines losing weight to cut hefty fuel bills | NEWS.com.au

 

[JohnK]

Re: Aussie airlines losing weight to cut hefty fuel bills

I like this:mrgreen::

There is even speculation heavier travellers may have to get on the scales and be asked to pay more to fly.

I love it. That is something that will be almost impossible to implement. Too many obstacles.

Maybe I should do my part to help the airlines and lose some weight, hey weight loss may even help me, don't have a meal or alcohol in the lounge before departure as every little bit less extra weight helps, don't take suitcase with clothes to Thailand but buy clothes while I am over there and then donate them to charity before returning or leave them in storage for next trip....

 

[wallacej]

All passengers could be asked to visit the toilet before boarding reducing excess weight, and requirement to carry too much water for waste!

(Would be kind of like mum and dad asking if you have been before starting out on a car journey)

 

[codash1099]

On a more serious note, airlines could save quite a bit of weight by moving away from fully painted aircraft, especially those that use a lot of white paint. The pigment used there is quite heavy.

I seem to recall that some years ago, in a prior oil price "shock", a number of airlines moved in that direction and towards clear protective coatings, much like those used by AA.

 

[NM]

All passengers could be asked to visit the toilet before boarding reducing excess weight, and requirement to carry too much water for waste!

(Would be kind of like mum and dad asking if you have been before starting out on a car journey)

And maybe the airline manufacturers could include a waste ejection system allowing the onboard human waste storage tanks to be emptied at 35,000 feet when flying over a suitable target zone .

Might even be able to leverage the fuel dump facilities for the process.

Flights from Perth to Sydney could jettison their waste about 25 mins before landing . Trans-Pacific flights could do it hourly to ensure an every decreasing overall aircraft weight and hence improving efficiency.

Or perhaps an onboard bio-diesel processing facility that could then be used to fuel the APU and onboard power generation requirements.

 

[mainly tailfirst]

Be prepared for other airlines to follow suit. The bi-lateral luggage agreement that exists with all countries whose airlines fly into the Americas that has, up until now, provided a VERY generous luggage allowance for economy class passengers is coming to a close.

NZ now enforce the same limits. Just put my folks on a flight yesterday and the 23kg per bag was closely checked.

mt