All those mintues add up, says David Nyquist of Northern Illinois University, who, using data given from a major airline, estimated that every minute a plane sits on the ground costs the airline about $30. With the plane flying on average 1,500 routes each day, times 365 days a year, and with 30 minutes between the average flight, that's an annual cost of about $500 million. Even shaving 10 minutes off each flight, which by most models, including Steffen's, can be easily done, would save airlines an estimated $200 million each year. That's a lot of money, but when Nyquist and his colleagues approached the airline with the results, the airline had more practical concerns, like first class and last-minute arrivals, which disrupt the computer models. "Their standard reason was that, well, we just haven't done this before," said Nyquist. "But I think that if they can make the boarding process more efficient, then I think that passengers will response in a very positive way." Related Links: |
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