12:01 AM

Sipping fuel
the UPS way

With about 265 heavies in the air on a given day, United Parcel Service is hoping to save $1 million a month soon by utilizing continuous descent approaches, or CDAs.

CDAs are an alternative to the normal aviation practice of stepping down altitudes as you approach an airport for landing. With CDA, planes use idle power to glide down, which makes less noise, burns less fuel and creates fewer emissions.

Testing is underway at Louisville, KY and Sacramento, CA, and UPS expects to obtain operational approval from the FAA to implement CDA for several flights into Louisville by the end of the year. The airlines are watching this program closely, and if successful, expect CDAs to begin showing up across the nation.

UPS is also the first U.S.-based carrier to use a computerized flight planning system developed by German carrier Lufthansa that calculates the most efficient route between two points based on weather, winds, terrain and other factors.

What can Brown do for you? How about setting the bar really high on saving fuel. Now that’s an idea that's long overdue.

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