It’s a simple concept: if you can flight plan a higher altitude to use during an overwater emergency, then you might not need as much extra fuel to reach an alternate airport. Most airlines and business jet operators flight plan for an emergency altitude of 10,000 feet, because supplemental oxygen isn’t needed at that altitude, when flying from the equal-time point to an alternate airport. But if you could quickly calculate how much oxygen is needed to reach an alternate safely after, say, a decompression emergency, then you may be able to fly to the alternate at a higher altitude, which means burning much less fuel. Stillwater, N.J.-based Aeronautical Data Systems (ADS) has developed software that does dispatch oxygen management calculations quickly and easily, potentially saving the operator of a large jet tens of thousands of dollars a year on fuel costs. ADS is exhibiting here at the Pacific Precision Products booth (No. 887).
“We’re providing the industry with probably the single biggest fuel-saving technique that [it] will see short of aerodynamic redesign,” said ADS vice president Jim Stabile. “It’s nothing but flight planning more efficiently.”
