Fuel conservation by controlling aircraft ground operations

Energy costs and availability are major concerns in most parts of the world. Various measures to reduce energy consumption have been proposed. This paper focuses on two strategies to control aircraft ground operations as fuel conservation measures: operating fewer engines while taxiing, and towing aircraft between terminal area and runways. The potential benefits, costs, safety and operational issues related to implementation are investigated. As an illustration, the implementation of these strategies at ten major US airports is analyzed. About 278 million liters of jet fuel could potentially be saved from aircraft towing at these airports at their 1987 operation levels. However, there are some concerns related to towing which would make implementation unlikely until there is more urgency in fuel conservation. A more readily implementable strategy would be operating fewer engines while taxiing. About 88 million liters of fuel could potentially be conserved at these airports at 1987 operation levels.