Transportation's Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions ...

Transportation’s Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Volume 2
Q route, due to a savings of 20 miles per flight compared to conventional routes. RNAV
Standard Instrument Departure (SID) procedures implemented in Atlanta and Dallas-Fort
Worth are estimated to have saved Delta and American Airlines $15-30 million each
annually per airport (JITI, 2007).
The DRVSM implemented in January 2005 is expected to provide $5.0-$8.8 billion worth of
fuel savings through 2016, a 6:1 benefit cost ratio (JITI, 2007; FAA, 2009). The total
operator cost to upgrade to DRVSM on a nationwide basis was approximately $800
million (FAA, 2004). Estimates for DRVSM compliance for operators on an aircraft-byaircraft
basis was $175,000 to $300,000 per airplane, in addition to a month of downtime to
install new flight instruments and sensors (Pope, 2002).
Costs of implementing these strategies may be borne by various entities. Airport authorities
will bear the costs of airport infrastructure and equipment. Aircraft operators will incur
costs such as navigational system upgrades and training to comply with revised procedures.
The FAA will incur the costs of NAS system improvements. Airlines will yield the direct
benefits of the strategies, including reduced fuel costs and time delays, but may pass along
some or all of these cost savings to consumers.
Cobenefits
In addition to GHG benefits, most strategies that provide for systemwide and operational
efficiencies in aviation also decrease fuel consumption and pollutant emissions, especially
NOx. The previously cited studies of RSVM found NOx reductions in the range of 0.7-
1.0 percent (Jelinek et al., 2002; CDM, 2005; Malwitz, 2009). For the thrust derated takeoffs,
there is increased CO2 due to increased fuel burn, but decreased NOx, HC, and CO
that can improve air quality (King and Waitz, 2005). A London study found that derated
thrust can reduce NOx by 14.5 percent during take-off and climb-out, more than offsetting
the GHG effect from increased CO2 emissions (King and Waitz, 2005).
Implementing OPD procedures not only reduce average fuel consumption, but also
translate into lower noise impacts, with quieter flight operations due to reduced number
of throttle transients and constant altitude flight segments near the ground (Russell, 2009).
Changing of flight patterns may affect noise levels in different ways in individual
neighborhoods, but RNAV/RNP approaches can be designed to minimize noise impacts
on residential areas surrounding airports.
Many of these aviation measures decrease travel times, benefiting consumers while
reducing airlines’ labor, asset, and maintenance costs. ATM technologies can increase
capacity, allowing more flights to arrive and depart the airport. To the extent that air
traffic management can better coordinate arrival and departure schedules, there also will
be fewer delays at both the ground and air levels. This reduced delay and increased
reliability has substantial benefits to both consumers and the airlines. According to
testimony by Senator Charles Schumer, in 2007 alone, the cost of delay to passengers,
airlines and the U.S. economy amounted to $41 billion (JEC, 2008). The JEC report
estimates that passengers were delayed by a total of 320 million hours, when accounting
for padding in airline schedules – almost 20 percent of total domestic flight time in 2007.
Of these flight delays 94 percent were caused by other flights arriving late, national
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