ecomagination

An airline’s choice of engines is important to its ultimate performance — but its flight management system (FMS) can also make a dramatic difference. For Boeing 737 operators in Europe, a TrueCourse™ profile using GE’s FMS has helped airlines achieve lower fuel costs, reduced emissions and less noise.

The FMS enables pilots to determine, while maintaining a highly efficient cruise altitude, the exact point where the throttle can be reduced to flight idle while allowing the aircraft to arrive precisely at the required runway approach point without the need for throttle increases. This optimization procedure, referred to as a continuous descent approach, lowers fuel burn.

The groundbreaking effort was initiated at SAS Scandinavian Airlines, where the approach saved hundreds of pounds of fuel and reduced emissions throughout 2008. SAS estimates that from a potential 36,000 TrueCourse™ descents yearly into Stockholm alone, annual benefits could reach $6 million in fuel savings.

“The TrueCourse™ available through GE’s advanced FMS enables us to operate much more efficiently considering today’s air traffic challenges and economic pressures,” said Niels-Eirik Nertun, Environmental Director, Scandinavian Airlines. “Through partnerships such as this, and with a leader in FMS technology and operations like GE, we were able to significantly reduce our operating costs.”