1 plane, 5 pax, 43tons of CO2
A major airline, American Airlines, is criticised for flying an aircraft across the Atlantic with only five passengers on board.
Recently, a Boeing 777 used 22,000 gallons of fuel flying from Chicago to London and produced 43 tons of CO2 in doing so.
This nearly empty flight is estimated as having cost American Airline about £30,000. That fuel could have taken a Ford Mondeo around the world five times.
no alternative…
But a spokesman said it had no alternative. “With such a small passenger load we did consider whether we could cancel the flight and re-accommodate the five remaining passengers on other flights.
“However, this would have left a plane load of west-bound passengers stranded in London Heathrow who were due to fly back to the US on the same aircraft.
“We sought alternative flights for the west-bound passengers but heavy loads out of London that day meant that this was not possible.”
still wrong
So within the business, this decision made sense.
Within the environment, this decision was scandalous.
What’s to be done?
MEANWHILE…
A new report from the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive says contaminated air pumped directly from jet engines can cause breathing problems, nausea and fatigue while long-term exposure may even lead to brain damage.
The air, known as “bleed air”, goes to the cabins on every plane without being filtered. Some pilots have complained of being “completely incapacitated” by the fumes. Filter systems are said to be available but airlines are put off by the costs of retro-fitting.
polluting fumes
MPs from all political parties are now calling for an urgent public inquiry into this pollution scandal.
Shadow Transport Minister Julian Brazier said: “It’s pretty scary to think a pilot could be brain damaged or permanently incapacitated by these fumes while accountable for the lives of so many on his aircraft. If even one plane goes down because of this, it’s a tragedy that could have been avoidable.”
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April 12th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
9/4/08 AIRLINES IN TROUBLE
“Hundreds of passengers have been left stranded after the Hong Kong airline Oasis stopped flying and applied to go into liquidation.
…Soaring fuel bills have forced other airlines out of business recently, including the Hawaiian airline Aloha and the business class airline Maxjet.”