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I took the available seat miles and divided by the gallons of fuel used for the first quarter of 2018 to calculate mpg /seat. I know that is a little strange since all seats count the same regardless of class. You would expect Spirit Airlines with the densest configurations, and the newest jets to have the highest mpg per seat.
Mpg Airline Years
63.5 Delta 16.7
63.9 American 10.4
66.5 United 14.6
72.5 Hawaiian 10.7
76.4 Southwest 10.7
82.0 Alaska 7.8
88.5 Spirit 5.3
Since Delta has the oldest fleet I expected them to come out on the bottom. I was surprised at the calculation I got for American as the fleet is relatively new.
Any idea why their efficiency is so low? Do they have a higher percentage of premium seating?
This is interesting data. One thing that it does not take into account is segment length. For a given aircraft, for a fixed number of seats, I would imagine that the fuel efficiency (in terms of pounds / mile / seat) plotted on the y-axis vs. segment length (plotted on x-axis) looks like an inverted parabola: At very short segment lengths, the time spent in taxi on the ground (low efficiency) and takeoff / climb (high fuel burn / mile) is high relative to total fuel burn, so efficiency for these short trips looks poor. On the other hand, at very long segment lengths, the total fuel load is very high, so weight is high for a good part of the flight, which will also depress efficiency in terms of pounds / mile / seat.
As an example, an UA flight from EWR - BOM will probably have a lower efficiency (in terms of pounds / mile) then operating the same aircraft on a shorter flight. This may be why the airlines at the higher end of the spectrum in your post above mostly operate short to medium range flights.
And yes, as you state, a cattle-car configuration will of course look better in terms of pounds / seat as opposed to a 777 with UA Polaris business class
This is interesting data. One thing that it does not take into account is segment length.
It is pretty standard metric reported by airlines (ASM/gallon or mpg / seat).
You are correct that takeoffs and landings use more fuel.
Alaska Airlines had about 9% of their Available Seat Miles referring to non-mainline aircraft, possibly they are the Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 and Embraer 175. I chose not to include that in the table as they averaged 55 mpg and dragged down the cumulative number by 4%. I am not sure how Alaska Airlines would show up as more efficient than Southwest. Alaska doesn't have large upper class sections, but they have more than Southwest.
It's not clear if American Airlines included the Envoy Air Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary operating more than 150 aircraft . I didn't expect AA to be in the neighborhood of Delta as Delta's jets are so much older.
Southwest only operates three aircraft
512 Boeing 737-700 -143 seats
194 Boeing 737-800 -175 seats
14 Boeing 737 MAX 8 -175 seats
The final number for Southwest, 76.4 mpg/seat is much lower than the fuel efficiency numbers associated with the oldest model, the 737-700 for 143 seats. I don't know if real world conditions are tougher than the artificial tests, or takeoff or landings are a factor. The age of the aircraft may be an issue, as fuel efficiency tests are normally done on new aircraft, and SW jets are up to twenty years old.
At any rate the final numbers are per seat (not per passenger) and could easily be duplicated by most automobiles if you consider an automobile to have TWO seats. In reality passenger cars have four or five seats, but we really don't use automobiles that way.
Delta does not seem too concerned with the age of their fleet or the low fuel efficiency. They are actively pursuing the purchase of used aircraft.
I am a little surprised at how many used aircraft Southwest purchases. Prior to 9/11, if you flew in Mexico on any airline other than Aeromexico you could expect an ancient aircraft. Now nearly all the airlines purchase all their jets brand new. It is the US airlines that are full of old equipment.
Hawaiian's route network is an atypical mixture of very short haul and fairly long haul, with nothing in between. Given the nature of their service area (short inter-island flights combined with long flights across half the Pacific), it's not surprising that there is no middle ground.
the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) publishes a report which ranks the airlines.
They evaluates the fuel efficiency of U.S. airlines’ domestic operations using a deterministic frontier model. The frontier approach benchmarks carriers using a fuel per transport service metric based on data reported by airlines to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) . That approach allows for the comparison of airlines, irrespective of business model, in a fair and transparent manner.
In other words they don't simply divide the available seat miles by number of gallons of fuel used (which is what I did). That simple calculation will obviously penalize you for shorter flights, or for lots of premium seating. Depending on the type of plane and how many people are on board, a first-class passenger's carbon footprint can be more than four times that of someone in coach.
ASM/gallon Airline
88.5 Spirit
82.0 Alaska
76.8 Allegiant
76.4 Southwest
72.5 Hawaiian
70.5 JetBlue
66.5 United
63.9 American
63.5 Delta
Frontier and Sun Country don't give quarterly reports since they are privately owned. Virgin America is now part of Alaska which could explain the drop from #1 to #2. Allegiant retired many of their old jets since the ICCT report which could explain their jump.
Very interesting stats. Thanks for this. I would have expected Delta to be among the worst (as much as they're my preferred airline) considering they have an older fleet compared to the other majors. That 16.7 number was up around 18-19 a few years ago though.
That said, they are not much lower than American or United and well within range. United's fleet is older than I thought. American is a bit more concerning as they have a 10 year old average fleet but almost as low as Delta. Probably because they have VERY short stage lengths on mainline aircraft, many on 737-800.
Recall Delta is refurbishing and keeping 20-25 year old 757s and A320s at the moment. The M88 and M90s are slowly leaving and the 738s and 717 are mostly middle aged. Expect the 16.7 number to keep going down a bit as they take on new A321, 737-900ER and A350.
Very interesting stats. Thanks for this. I would have expected Delta to be among the worst (as much as they're my preferred airline) considering they have an older fleet compared to the other majors. That 16.7 number was up around 18-19 a few years ago though.
It's my understanding that American at least has a plan to replace their older jets with 100 Airbus A321neo and 54 Dreamliners they have ordered. They may keep some of the newer B777-200s
Total (157 JETS) oldest example
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (DC-9-82) line # 1321 Age 31.7 Years (9 JETS)
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (DC-9-83) line # 1919 Age 26.8 Years (34 JETS)
Boeing 757-223 line #568 Age 24.9 Years (34 JETS)
...
Boeing 767-323(ER) line #481 Age 25.3 Years ( 24 JETS)
Airbus A330-323 MSN #315 Age 18.3 Years (9 JETS)
Boeing 777-223(ER) line #185 Age 19.5 Years ( 47 JETS)
... Newer wide body aircraft. Airbus A330-200 average age: 6.6 Years (15 JETS)
Boeing 777-300 average age: 4.4 Year ( 20 JETS)
I think Delta is hoping that the B797 will be their salvation, as they cancelled their B787 orders that they inherited from Northwest.
They have ordered 100 Airbus A321neo, and 25 A330-900neos, but that will only replace the very oldest of their aircraft.
It's my understanding that American at least has a plan to replace their older jets with 100 Airbus A321neo and 54 Dreamliners they have ordered. They may keep some of the newer B777-200s
Total (157 JETS) oldest example
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (DC-9-82) line # 1321 Age 31.7 Years (9 JETS)
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (DC-9-83) line # 1919 Age 26.8 Years (34 JETS)
Boeing 757-223 line #568 Age 24.9 Years (34 JETS)
...
Boeing 767-323(ER) line #481 Age 25.3 Years ( 24 JETS)
Airbus A330-323 MSN #315 Age 18.3 Years (9 JETS)
Boeing 777-223(ER) line #185 Age 19.5 Years ( 47 JETS)
... Newer wide body aircraft. Airbus A330-200 average age: 6.6 Years (15 JETS)
Boeing 777-300 average age: 4.4 Year ( 20 JETS)
I think Delta is hoping that the B797 will be their salvation, as they cancelled their B787 orders that they inherited from Northwest.
They have ordered 100 Airbus A321neo, and 25 A330-900neos, but that will only replace the very oldest of their aircraft.
Read on FT that AA will be retiring the first batch of 737-800 in the next few years that were delivered between 1999-2001 as well. Apparently most of the 757s are safe for now.
Read on FT that AA will be retiring the first batch of 737-800 in the next few years that were delivered between 1999-2001 as well.
I was wondering if southwest would acquire them.
However, I noticed that Southwest is still flying the -700 ,Line Number #1 First Flight 09. Feb 1997 and they regularly acquire -700 aircraft from bankrupt airlines. However, they don't seem to do that with the -800 variant. The oldest one that Southwest had it's First Flight 23. Feb 2012.
I don't know why Southwest only acquires old -700 jets, but not -800 jets.
In any case American has some of the oldest B737-800s. The original B737-800 prototype( first flight 31. Jul 1997) is still flying in Turkey and is painted with Peter Rabbit
The first objective for AA next year is to replace 87 jets
24 Boeing 767-300ER, 9 McDonnell Douglas MD-82, 34 McDonnell Douglas MD-83and 20 Embraer E190s with B787-8 and A321neos, with B737Max-8.
Quote:
Originally Posted by N610DL
Apparently most of the 757s are safe for now.
I thought they were going to simultaneously (in about 2 years) replace the B757-200s with Airbus A321neo while they were replacing the older B737-800s with B737max-8s.
Finally (in about 4 years) they will replace the Airbus A330-323 (9 JETS)and then some of the older Boeing 777-200ER ( 47 JETS).
Last edited by PacoMartin; 06-15-2018 at 08:14 PM..
American is a bit more concerning as they have a 10 year old average fleet but almost as low as Delta.
It turns out that I made a mistake on American by accidentally including the regional aircraft statistics. Even though mainline ASM are 7 times regional, the regional aircraft have such poor efficiency that it drags down the statistic. American was actually higher than United.
ASM/gallon Airline Age
88.5 Spirit 5.3
82.0 Alaska 7.8
76.8 Allegiant 17.5
76.4 Southwest 10.7
72.5 Hawaiian 10.7
70.5 JetBlue 9.5
68.6 American 10.4
66.5 United 14.6
63.5 Delta 16.7
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