KEY POINTS:
Air New Zealand's chief pilot, Dave Morgan, thinks a lot about fuel.
He's recently had the painful duty of signing off the airline's fuel purchases, and this year it's been hitting $5 million a day at times.
Like other airlines, Air New Zealand's bottom line has been damaged, turning what would have been a record year into just a solid one after a 76 per cent slump in profit over the second six months.
"Fuel was always an issue, but the cost of it was not so significant," Morgan said. "An airline's ability to manage fuel costs will determine its viability."
Already, 26 airlines in the United States and Europe have failed in the last 12 months, and another 20 are at risk of going under over the subsequent six months, according to some estimates.
Morgan, who is the airline's general manager of operations, was speaking during a test run dubbed the "perfect flight" of a Boeing 777-200 from Auckland to San Francisco to test what fuel savings can be achieved by minimising air traffic control restraints and maximising existing fuel conservation measures.
The flight used 4600 litres - or 4 per cent less fuel than it normally would, saving the airline about $7000.
Dubbed Aspire 1, it was the first in the world to have gate-to-gate air traffic constraints removed.
The flight was run in partnership with Airways NZ, the US Federal Aviation Administration and Airservices Australia.
The Asia South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions touches every aspect of the flight from the time a plane spends taxiing on the ground to how quickly it climbs, its route, and gliding into landing using minimal power.
Among fuel-saving measures before takeoff was greater use of Auckland Airport's electricity to power the plane's lights and airconditioning while sitting at the gate instead of using its own auxiliary engine located in the tail of the aircraft.
Final refuelling of the plane finished just 20 minutes prior to departure. The system of "just in time" fuelling allows the most accurate weight of aircraft to be calculated allowing for no-shows or passengers offloaded.
Some pilots in the United States and in Asia have complained airlines are cutting it too fine with the amount of fuel loaded. Morgan says Air New Zealand pilots, who make the final call on refuelling, are not under the same pressure.
"We fly a long way and as a consequence we don't scrimp on fuel. While some pressure has been put on flight crew in other airlines, that's not the case in Air New Zealand."
Every saving has been calculated by Air New Zealand - using the airport's power saves around 210 litres of fuel, last-minute fuelling about 240 litres, plus savings from not carrying the extra weight.
On take off the aircraft turned sharply at just 150m over the airport to track east - rather than at a higher altitude after being given priority to use the airspace.
Two route changes along the way to take advantage of tail winds also saved fuel and time. San Francisco has been running a tailored arrivals system for nearly a year which allows controllers to look over an aircraft's flight path and tailor it to avoid conditions that might slow it down.
The smooth continuous descent rather than the stepped down approach saves time and fuel - around 700 litres in Aspire 1's case.
The flight made two "step climbs" of 300m each en route following a safety decree covering 777s powered by Rolls Royce engines. British safety authorities in a preliminary report found a similar British Airways plane crash-landed short of Heathrow airport because of icing in its fuel system, and pilots now put more power through the engines for short spurts at regular intervals.
Morgan said the climbs were built into the flight plan and were done at full thrust to minimise any any impact on fuel use as it is more efficient to get to higher altitudes more quickly.
He said at a press conference at San Francisco Airport cost savings through such measures would allow the airline to stem the flow of fare rises rather than cut them.
He said the lead-in fares for economy passengers flying to London did not cover the cost of fuel at present.
The trial flight would set a benchmark for further Air New Zealand services and those of other carriers.
The relatively uncrowded Pacific Ocean air space was the ideal testing ground, and Morgan along with air traffic authorities acknowledge difficulties implementing it in Europe and Asia in particular, where there are sovereignty issues and problems fitting into defence requirements.
If the scheme was extended to the 156 flights a week between Australia, New Zealand and the United States and Canada, potential annual savings would be in excess of 37 million litres of fuel, or reduced CO2 emissions of more than 100,000 tonnes.
Airways chief executive Ashley Smout said more efficient controls have already saved airlines about $20 million a year in reduced fuel bills.
Besides the Aspire programme, Air New Zealand has put in place 41 projects help the environment over the past four years.
Among them is a $2.5 billion commitment to buy more fuel-efficient planes and a biofuel project using a nutty plant, jatropha, which is being refined in the United States into aviation fuel.
Morgan said the little things count as well. He's calculated that every kilogram of extra weight carried by a plane in regular use adds about $450 to the fuel bill a year.
His 98 planes naturally pack on the kilos during the year as aircraft interiors absorb moisture, and dust is tramped into carpets so anything so the airline is looking at everything possible to trim down.
But stripping back cabin amenities has to be balanced with passenger comfort and expectations.
* Grant Bradley travelled to San Francisco courtesy of Air New Zealand.
