After my post regarding how fuel costs impact the P&L of a B737 flying a one hour route I received two corrections. The first one was received about 13 seconds after I posted (just kidding) from a reader who pointed out I had calculated correctly, but my explanation was a bit dyslexic. I had mistakenly typed that there are 6.84 gallons per pound of jet fuel, when it is obviously 6.84 pounds per gallon.
Another reader pointed out my flawed logic in using 800 gallons of fuel burned for the first hour of flight:
“In your fuel computation in Buzz, you compute an hourly fuel consumption of 800 gallons/hr for a B-737. This seems to be about right from my recollection of fuel burns on the 300/400 series at altitude. However, you have a small error in the logic of a 1-hour flight. While a 737 will burn 800 gallons per hour at altitude, getting there will cost you a whole lot more than 800 gallons per hour on any jet.”
Well actually, my analysis assumed that the B737 would be taken directly to FL350 on the belly of a B52 and then released into cruise flight. OK, fine. My quasi P&L for a B737 on a one hour flight was flawed. Using this information the first hour of flight will cost an additional 33% in fuel burn. So instead of fuel costing $30 per onboard passenger for a one hour flight, it really costs almost $40 when/if a barrel of oil costs $150. Yeah, that’s much better, thanks!
He also had an interesting theory about a new, more equitable way to asses a fuel surcharge, taking into consideration the impact of stage length on fuel burn:
“I’m waiting for the fuel surcharge to be a function of actual burn… you know… a meter at the entry door of the airplane where each passenger will slide his AmEx card. At the end of the flight, the flight attendant will give you a little slip like at the rental car return that has your actual fuel surcharge based on actual fuel burn on that flight. That would be more equitable than a per leg fuel surcharge, don’t you think?”
I think he may have a future as Director of Ancillary Revenue at an airline near you!