Airlines taking addition measures to save costs on flights

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have announced plans to modify air craft in an effort to make them more fuel efficient as the price of oil continues to rise. Some things the airlines are considering doing are replacing particular parts with new parts made of lightweight plastic. Both airlines are also considering restricting the amount of water carried aboard each flight.

US Airways has recently announced that they will remove movie systems from nearly 200 aircraft in an attempt to save fuel. The entertainment system that provides the movies to flyers weights approximately 500 pounds. The system will only be removed for aircraft flying domestically and will remain on aircraft flying long haul flights.

A spokesperson for US Airways has said that they will begin testing a lightweight system to be placed in chair backs toward the end of the year but the upgrade is still a long ways off.

The British Air Transport Association’s spokesperson said regarding the change that “Airlines are looking at all sorts of ways to try to cut down costs, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that US Airways have done this. It really is a sign of the times. I guess they feel that people travelling short haul can live without it for a few hours. It’s just that the price of fuel is such now that airlines are looking to make cuts wherever they can. However, as most British airlines tend to carry this equipment only on long flights, I doubt they will go to the same lengths.”

www.bata.uk.com
www.virgin-atlantic.com
www.usairways.com