Captain Jeff Martin Senior Director Flight Operations Southwest Airlines
Southwest’s Fleet • Southwest achieves one of its primary competitive strengths–low operating costs–by operating only one aircraft type, the Boeing 737.
• The use of a single aircraft type allows the Company to simplify scheduling, maintenance, flight operations, and training activities.
Southwest Airlines Fleet Information (As of June 30, 2009) Aircraft Type B737-300 B737-500 B737-700 TOTALS
Seats 137 122 137
Average Age (Yrs)
Number of Aircraft
Number Owned
Number Leased
17.8 18.2 5.6 10.2
180 25 338 543
110 16 318 444
70 9 20 99
Daily Operations
3,200+ flights per day 535 B737
Service to 68 cities throughout 34 states
Largest U.S. Airline, based on passenger boarding
Largest carrier based on originating domestic passengers boarded and scheduled domestic departures
Average Stage Length 647 Miles
Efficient Operation: 12+ Hour Aircraft Utilization
Longest daily flight: PVD – LAS (2,363 Miles) As of 31 Dec 2008
RNP: The
Future of Aviation
Pic of futuristic plane here
Southwest Airlines is proud to be leading the industry in deploying our 500+ aircraft into NextGen RNP flight by Dec 2010.
RNP Benefits: Environment, Consumers, and Carriers WHY INVEST
If implemented correctly and widely throughout the national aviation system, RNP will: 1. Strengthen our environment by greatly reducing the amount of fuel we consume and greenhouse gases we emit. 2. Provide our Customers with less congestion and fewer delays. 3. Improve safety and operational performance of the commercial aviation industry. 4. Increased Dispatch capabilities
THE WORLDS BIGGEST TRANSFORMATION • In March of 2007, Southwest made an unprecedented commitment of $175 million to advance NextGen and make RNP an integral part of our day-to-day operations. We completely transformed ourselves from a non VNAV/Auto throttle airline to the United States largest RNP full up airline in 3 years. • Southwest based our business plan, and set the standard for our Return on Investment (ROI), by determining that we need to reduce our flight track miles by 3 miles per leg. • Reducing flight track miles burns less fuel. Fuel is an airlines’ highest cost behind labor so there is a natural incentive for airlines to reduce fuel burn, which translates into reduced aircraft emissions and lower fuel costs. • To put it in perspective: Southwest burned 1.5 billion gallons of fuel in 2008. Our new automation procedures are saving over $1M in fuel monthly. • We are ¾ complete and have introduced full automation. GPS flight begins on April 06 2010 and RNP flights on Dec 2010.
4 Distinct Areas of Southwest’s NextGen RNP Project 1.
Aircraft equipage and modification: Each of our 500 aircraft required some equipment modification, which consumed 80% of our NextGen budget. Today, 66% of our fleet is RNP capable, and we will complete our remaining modifications within this year. We are converting B737 classics to glass PFD/ND RNP equipped aircraft.
2.
FAA regulatory approval: For two years, Southwest has been working with FAA toward achieving regulatory approval. We now have GPS approval and the approval to train RNP. (1183 Pages)
3.
Pilot Training: Training is underway. Developing the curriculum took 19 months and consumed 13% of our budget. We will have trained 6000 Pilots with four additional training events in 2 years.
4.
Airport procedures: Southwest is working closely with the FAA to assist in the design of new RNP flight procedures. Our goal is to have at least one carbon negative RNP procedure at each of the airports we serve.
Proof is in the Demonstration Flights On March 8, 2009, Southwest flew a demonstration RNP flight roundtrip between DAL and HOU. Based on these demonstration flights, RNP can reduce fuel burn and carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 6 percent per flight. Translating these savings across our network, we could burn 90.6 million less gallons of fuel and reduce our CO2 emissions by 1.9 billion pounds annually.
6% Fuel and Carbon Reduction March 8, 2009 Demo Flight Results Fuel Reduction
CO2 Reduction
Demo Flight
Full Year
Demo Flight
Full Year
DAL to HOU
-228 lbs, -34.03 gals
-317,533 gals
-718 lbs
-6,698,378 lbs
HOU to DAL
-59 lbs -8.81 gals
-81,640 gals
-186 lbs
-1,722,199 lbs
City Pair Total
-287 lbs, -42.84 gals
-399,173 gals
-904 lbs
-8,420,577 lbs
Did You Know, In 2008 . . .
• U.S passenger and cargo airlines consumed 12.7 billion gallons of jet fuel for domestic operations. • SWA consumed 1.5 billion gallons of fuel.
Fuel Reduction Applying a 6% reduction to the U.S. airline industry . . .
CO2 Reduction
Used in 2008 (Gallons)
6% Reduction (Gallons)
Pounds
Metric Tons
SWA
1.5 Billion
-90.6 Million
-1.9 Billion
-867 Thousand
U.S.
12.7 Billion
-760 Million
-16 Billion
-7.3 Million
Based on 2008 data Based on fuel density of 6.7lbs/gal
Source: ATA Source: SWA Fuel Committee
RNP FACTOID: Track Mile Savings For each mile you save, you... save 12.25 seconds of flight time. save 29.3 pounds of fuel. eliminate 91.9 pounds of CO2. eliminate .34 pounds of NOx.
737 Classic Aircraft Modification Milestones December 2010: Dual FMC and GPS will be fully installed on the Classic fleet. 2011 – 2013: LAD (Large Area Displays) glass panel displays installed on Classic fleet. Currently, 66% of our fleet is RNP capable – NG Fleet All remaining modifications will be completed within two years yielding us a 100% GPS/RNP fleet.
Current SWA FlightDecks
SWA “Round Dial” B737-300
2009 -20 10 COCKPIT
Designing RNP Procedures Southwest is working closely with the FAA to design RNP procedures at:
24 SWA cities and plan to complete all 68 airports
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE
ACCOMPLISHED • Modified more than 340 aircraft with GPS and RNP software • Built a four-step automation training program for 6,000 Pilots • Testified for Congress on PBN • On track for first B737 Classic aircraft digital conversion • Audited and redesigned our automation policy
• Volunteered for Lead carrier status at 20 airports • Prepared OpSpec and received GPS/RNP approval • Test flew DAL/HOU RNP flights • Trained 6000 Pilots on four separate events for GPS/RNP flight • Already saving $1M US in fuel savings per month with new automation
Our Training Success
All 6,000 Pilots will have completed RNP/GPS/Automation Training by December 2010. As part of the ground school, Pilots utilize AeroSim, an interactive tool that was provided for Pilots to use on their personal computers. Below, Pilots utilize AeroSim during Step 3 Training.
Lessons Learned • It’s equipment-dependent. • Most Pilots lack FMS skills. • Training and procedures must be well tested. •It takes time…and expert training and best practices. •Pilot marketing is key to success to achieve buy in. •It requires a firm understanding of automation and automation training. •Pilots love it
20,000 Training Events Per Year 5 NG SIMS 3 Classic Sims
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES TRAINING Southwest Airlines is equipped and has become the world experts in training automation and RNP Procedures. Please contact me if you would like to discuss a Training Partnership
CAPTAIN JEFF MARTIN SENIOR DIRECTOR OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS PH 214-415-8431 Jeff.martin@wnco.com
QUESTIONS