American Airlines and Aviation Partners Boeing Announce First Revenue Flight of a Boeing 767-300ER Featuring Blended Winglets
09 Marzo 2009 - 8:37AM
PR Newswire (US)
Annual Fuel Savings of up to 500,000 Gallons Per Aircraft FORT
WORTH, Texas, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines
and Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) announced today the first
revenue flight of a Boeing 767-300ER with APB's Blended
Winglets(TM). American Flight #78 left Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport Sunday, March 8, at 8:35 p.m. with 204
passengers onboard and arrived ahead of schedule at London Heathrow
Airport on Monday, March 9, at 10:26 a.m. "We are pleased that APB
chose to partner with American to develop and install these Blended
Winglets, and we are especially happy that we also operated the
first flight with customers onboard a winglet-equipped 767-300ER,"
said Bob Reding, American's Executive Vice President - Operations.
"The fuel savings and emissions reductions that we will achieve are
one more step in our efforts to both moderate costs and shrink the
impact we have on our environment - two goals that go
hand-in-hand." The increased lift provided by the winglets, without
a corresponding increase of engine power, improves fuel efficiency.
Each airplane equipped with the winglets is expected to save up to
500,000 gallons of fuel annually depending on miles flown,
according to APB. American plans to install winglets on its entire
58 aircraft fleet of 767-300ERs, which could result in a total
savings of up to 29 million gallons of fuel per year. That
represents a significant potential increase to the 111 million
gallons of fuel that American currently saves through its Fuel
Smart efficiency program. In addition to the fuel cost savings,
this 767-300ER fuel efficiency improvement will result in a
reduction of up to 277,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions annually, according to APB. The 11-foot high winglets
could also extend the range of an aircraft by as much as 360
nautical miles and improve take-off performance, providing as much
as 12,000 pounds of additional payload. "The 767-300ER Blended
Winglets have been the most complicated product development program
in the history of Aviation Partners Boeing. We owe a huge debt of
gratitude to our launch partner, American Airlines, and our other
pre-certification customers for their continued faith in APB and
Blended Winglet technology and their patience and support through a
challenging certification process. These winglets represent the
largest piece of structure ever retrofitted to a commercial
aircraft wing and will dramatically change forever both the
appearance and performance of the 767-300ER," said John Reimers,
Aviation Partners Boeing President and CEO. The winglet
installation work was accomplished by American's Maintenance &
Engineering organization at its maintenance base in Kansas City,
Mo. American expects to modify all of its 767-300ER aircraft by
2011. American has already completed Blended Winglet installation
on its fleets of 124 Boeing 757s and 77 Boeing 737s. American's
in-house maintenance organization accomplishes more than 90 percent
of American's maintenance. American Maintenance Services will also
install the B-767 as well as B-757 and B-737 Blended Winglets on
other Aviation Partners Boeing customers' aircraft at its existing
base maintenance facilities in Tulsa, Okla.; Kansas City; or Fort
Worth, Texas. "Our mechanics and engineers are highly experienced,
and we have outstanding facilities and the resources necessary to
excel at this kind of complex structural installation," said
Carmine Romano, Senior Vice President - Maintenance &
Engineering, for American. "The efficiency that allows us to do
this kind of work in house also allows us to provide the same
service to our customers, and they simply can't get that anywhere
else." APB began the flight test certification program in February
2008 with a leased American Airlines 767-300ER. The two companies
jointly began the winglet development program early in 2007. About
APB Aviation Partners Boeing is a joint venture of Aviation
Partners, Inc. and The Boeing Company. Based in Seattle, APB has
now certified its patented Blended Winglet technology, in
chronological order, for the Boeing Business Jet, 737-800, 737-700,
737-300, 757-200, 737-900, 737-500, and 767-300ER.. APB is also
currently in the process of certifying Blended Winglets for the
757-300. Today, over 2,800800 Boeing aircraft have been equipped
with Blended Winglets. By 2010, APB expects that Blended Winglets
will have saved the world's airlines over 2 billion gallons of
fuel. About American Airlines Maintenance Services American
Airlines Maintenance Services offers a full line of airframe,
engine and component, and line maintenance services customizing
those services to meet the specific needs of the client. AAMS has
more than 60 customers - 80 percent of which are repeat business -
located in North and South America. Services are provided by
American's overhaul bases in Tulsa, Okla.; Fort Worth, Texas;
Kansas City, Mo., and at line maintenance locations in the United
States, Latin America and Europe. About American Airlines American
Airlines, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection(R) airlines
serve 250 cities in 40 countries with, on average, more than 3,400
daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 900
aircraft. American's award-winning Web site, AA.com(R), provides
users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized
news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a
founding member of the oneworld(R) Alliance, which brings together
some of the best and biggest names in the airline business,
enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits
than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members
serve nearly 700 destinations in over 140 countries and
territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines,
Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines,
American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, We know why you fly and
AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc.
(NYSE: AMR) AmericanAirlines(R) We know why you fly(R) Current AMR
Corp. releases can be accessed on the Internet. The address is
http://www.aa.com DATASOURCE: American Airlines CONTACT: Tim
Wagner, Corporate Communications of American Airlines,
+1-817-967-1577, ; or Patrick LaMoria, VP of Sales & Marketing
- APB, +1-206-830-7699, Web Site: http://www.aa.com/
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