27 Nov 2023
While the time saved may look insignificant, it reduced costs and higher operational efficiency for an industry that is perpetually bleeding.
Airlines in the US have started relying on various tech and strategies to help save time, which could translate to reduced costs and better operating efficiency. American Airlines deployed Machine Learning for flight gate allocation to save an average of two minutes of taxi time for every flight, a reduction of 20%, and hours of gate planning time. This translated as up to 11 hours saved daily, and numerous gate changes and conflicts cut down drastically.
Airlines have also saved 1.4 million gallons of fuel annually and reduced CO2 emissions by 13,400 metric tonnes per year. Besides, United Airlines saved two minutes per flight by boarding economy class passengers first, followed by the middle and the aisle. Southwest Airlines uses better signage and music on the bridge for faster boarding. Frontier has started using staircases directly to and from its Airbus’ second door to expedite boarding.