AN ANALYSIS OF FUEL CONSERVATION THROUGH AIRCRAFT TOWING

This paper presents an analysis of aircraft towing at the top twenty air carrier airports in the United States. The study of towing aircraft analyzes the economic feasibility of two towing scenarios: towing arrivals and departures, towing departures only. The analysis has been conducted under assumptions which yield an upper bound (high estimates) of fuel savings and a lower bound (low estimates) of the costs involved. A number of operational factors which would reduce the fuel savings and further increase the cost of towing have been identified but not explicitly accounted for in the analysis. The environmental benefits (noise and pollution reduction) of aircraft towing have not been considered in this analysis. This analysis indicates that no towing scheme is economically feasible unless the price of fuel increases by at least 150% to 200% more (over 1974 prices) without any increase in crew costs. If, however, future conditions require that fuel be conserved at all costs, then towing schemes would yield a savings of 0.7% to 1.3% of the total air carrier fuel usage at an additional net annual cost of $21 million to $90 million.

• Corporate Authors:

  Mitre Corporation

  1820 Dolley Madison Boulevard
  McLean, VA  United States  22102

  Federal Aviation Administration

  Systems Engineering Management, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Authors:
  • Sinha, A N
• Publication Date: 1975-2

Media Info

• Pagination: 43 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft; Airplanes; Airports; Alternatives analysis; Economic analysis; Energy conservation; Feasibility analysis; Forecasting; Fuel consumption; Taxiways; Towed vehicles; Towing devices; Towing vehicles
• Old TRIS Terms: Aircraft towing
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Economics; Energy; Environment; Terminals and Facilities; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00169221
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: MTR-6790 Tech Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FA70WA-2448
• Files: NTIS, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 30 1978 12:00AM