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ISSUE 2 SUMMER 2011

Aircraft Data Special


Getting the right data transmission
Data as a global business asset

Fuel savings from EFB implementation


Pre-flight information supports service
IT tools to minimise EU ETS compliance costs
White Papers: LinkSMART Aviation Intelligence Tasc4Aviation
Case Studies: Lufthansa Cityline Thai Airways International

8 | CASE STUDY: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | SUMMER 2011

How to implement
fuel savings linked to EFB
With so many factors to consider, technology makes fuel efficiency decisions so much better, writes
Capt. Joachim Scheiderer, Manager Flight Operations Engineering, Lufthansa CityLine

uel expenses have always represented a large proportion of total


expenditure for an airline. In the past year, the price trend of crude oil
and fuel prices associated with it demonstrated the need for airlines worldwide to
act sustainably. And by acting, we understand, in this context, we mean finding
fuel saving measures.
Even though the low hanging fruits have already been harvested, there remains
a possible measure with high savings potential that could be implemented in
the regional airlines sector. That measure is the implementation of a new flight
procedure on the basis of variable airspeeds which will entail turning away
from the previous practice of a fixed airspeed, regardless of external parameters.
Therefore it is necessary to be able to calculate and identify a speed that
generates the lowest costs within the given time slot (block flying time) with due
regard to a scheduled time of arrival.
To achieve this, a company-specific cost index (CI) can be applied. This so
called CI represents the ratio between event-related and flight time-dependent
costs, and the fuel price.
While the CI functionality is part of the standard equipment of every modern
flight management system on Airbus and Boeing aircraft, it has not yet been
established in the cockpits of regional aircraft. The question as to why has to be
answered by the manufacturers of those aircraft in light of a changing sector.
Regional air traffic is no longer a 20 minutes flight with a turboprop. All over
the world, increasing numbers of regional jets are pushing forward into the
medium haul range with aircraft of up to, and sometimes even more than, 100

passenger seats. The word regional does not so much refer to the geographic
operation radius, but rather to the size of the aircraft fuselage.
The savings potentials, available with a change from fixed speeds to variable
cost index based speeds are enormous. Fuel experts at IATA describe the savings
potential in their IATA Fuel Action Plan, Guidance material and best practices
for fuel and environmental management as follows: CI optimization of planned
speeds will yield savings from 2 to 3 per cent and in some cases, as much as
10% when a flight is restricted to a low altitude or in unusually strong winds.
The following calculation outlines the size of the savings potential:
Fuel consumption of the Canadair and Embraer fleet of Lufthansa CityLine
amounted to 195,000 tons of kerosene in 2010. A supposed fuel saving of 3%
leads to reduction in use of more than 5,800 tons of Kerosene. Furthermore a
supposed fuel price of euro/ton 744 would lead to a savings potential of more
than 4.3 million euro and reduced emission of 18,400 tons of CO2.

Pacelab CI OPS
In order to use the cost index effectively for the fleet of Lufthansa CityLine, a
cost index operations optimization software was developed by PACE, a Berlin
based company for aerospace engineering and information technology.
Supporting the strategic flight planning process and on-board tactical economic
decisions, Pacelab CI OPS significantly reduces fuel consumption and the
emission of CO2 and other pollutants. Compared to constant Mach speeds, CI
operations reduce fuel burn and harmful emissions by at least 2%, and even up

SUMMER 2011 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | CASE STUDY: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE | 9

to 10% in adverse conditions.


Until now the flight planning system used fixed
published speed schedules and was not capable
of calculating a CI based flight plan due to the
missing respective Time/Fuel/Distance data.
Pacelab CI OPS enhances existing flight planning
systems with supplementary CI performance data for the
climb, cruise and descent flight phases.
As well as calculating the optimum flight plan, it also allows
on board tactical economic decisions in response to in-flight
changes such as delay or early arrival, ATC cleared unplanned
flight level or ATC requested speed change. Flight crews are
able to recalculate and update planned trajectories whenever
there are deviations from the Operational Flight Plan (OFP).

Application of CI Operations
Cost index operation is based on a two-stage optimization approach:
strategic planning, made in advance of the flight and tactical planning, for inflight corrections to the flight plan.

Tactical Planning

Strategic Planning
Provision of CI performance
data for climb, cruise and
descent for improved OFPs

Support of in-flight economic


decisions on board following
OFP deviations of any kind

Cost Index Performance Data


for Your Flight Planning System

Electronic
Flight Bag

Paper
Booklet

Strategic planning in the context of cost index operations means the calculation
and creation of the OFP. This forms the basis for the planned flight and further
tactical optimizations. Tactical planning follows strategic planning. It allows
for continuous checking and optimization during flight. The crew is then in a
position of being able to react to any unpredicted changes during the flight. The
tool for tactical planning is the Pacelab CI OPS software.
The following example indicates the necessity of tactical planning. The crew
receives and OFP from A to B which contains a taxi-out time of 10 minutes and
a taxi-in time of six minutes with a block time of 100 minutes.
According to the previously optimized OFP, the flight time is 84 minutes. Due to
a high traffic density in A the 10 minute taxi time becomes 18 minutes before lineup. The time window for the flight is therefore reduced by eight minutes only 76
minutes are available. How can the trajectories be changed in order to achieve an
optimum ratio between flight time and fuel burn, i.e. cost? The main options are
changing the climb speed, the (optimum) flight level or the cruise speed

The economic flight profile


Discounting external influences such as wind, it is generally possible to say that
flights at high altitudes use less fuel than those at low altitudes. Normally, only
the cruise segment is optimized. However, as part of a total optimization, this is
not enough. In short-range flights, the horizontal segment is often only a small
part of the overall flight profile.

The figure above shows that a high indicated airspeed in the climb segment
(i.e. higher cost index) leads to a gentler climb angle. The cruise altitude is

10 | CASE STUDY: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | SUMMER 2011

therefore reached later. This situation is reversed for a low cost index (CI=0) or
a low speed. The extra power of the engines results in a high climb angle, so
that the cruise altitude is reached earlier. Both cases have implications for the
subsequent cruise segment and the overall flight time.
In the case of the descent segment, a higher cost index (higher flight speed)
leads to a steeper angle of descent, whereas a lower cost index (slower flight
speed) allows for a gentler angle of descent. Like the climb segment, there are
implications to the cruise segment. A steep and short descent results in a longer
cruise segment at the optimum altitude.
It is important to note that for each parameter set comprised of take-off weight
(TOW), CI, distance and wind there is a particular combination of optimum
altitude and optimum speed triple, where speed triple denotes a particular
combination of climb, cruise and descent speed values. The figure below shows
such a speed triple for an example parameter set with an altitude restriction (Alt
Cap) on FL340 as a point in three-dimensional space.

Each time the parameters are changed, the position of the point changes in
this space, making rule of thumb estimates impossible.

CI OPS use in cockpit


Lufthansa CityLine uses so called Class 2 EFB systems in the cockpits of their
Canadair and Embraer Jets. Class 2 EFB systems are generally commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) based computer systems used for aircraft operations.
They are portable and connected to aircraft power through a certified power
source. The Class 2 EFB system is considered as a controlled personal electronic
device (PED) and is connected to an aircraft mounting device during normal
operations. Moreover connectivity to Avionics is possible, but the systems
require airworthiness approval.

Performing Calculations in CI OPS


Cockpit Preparation (PREP)
Before flight, the Pacelab CI OPS must be initialized with basic flight mission
and weather data. These data can be supplied using an eOFP or by manually
entering the required data.
After having entered all data necessary for calculating the optimum trajectory,
the Calculate button can be used for a first optimum trajectory be calculated.
The trajectories calculated in PREP are not time constrained and therefore
correspond to the most economical trajectory with regard to the total costs
(time and fuel).
In the results window the (non-time constrained) trajectory for even and odd
flight levels together with additional information about fuel and total cost are
displayed in the Profile View:

Line-Up (T/O 60s)


After line-up clearance has been obtained and take-off is expected to be initiated in
about 60 seconds, the pilot can click the T/O 60s Button on the action toolbar to
calculate the optimum trajectory considering the actual take-off time. CI OPS takes
the system time and adds 60 seconds to estimate the take-off time. Based on this
take-off time, the application calculates the trajectory and displays the results.
By comparing the take-off time with the on-block time, delays or early-in-timescenarios (for example, caused by slot or taxi-out delay or shorter taxi-out times)
are included in the time dependent trajectory. The time window for the flight is
thus larger or smaller.

In case of a delay, Pacelab CI OPS will modify the CI up to a maximum


allowable value. When this value is reached, a delay will be accepted. In case of
being ahead of time, the trajectory for the minimum CI will be calculated.
Change of speed
During the flight, ATC might advise you to change speed in cruise. This is
frequently caused by the staggering of aircraft ahead or behind.
Following the fact that there is a specific optimum speed, the Speed use case
is available. In addition to the trajectory for maintaining the current FL and
applying the required speed, trajectories for four additional flight levels (two
above, two below) and the appropriate ECON speeds will be calculated.

Delayed or too early in cruise


Because of various external effects, it is often the case during a flight that the
pilots realize they will arrive too early (or too late) at the destination. The

SUMMER 2011 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | CASE STUDY: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE | 11

reasons for this might be a stronger wind component or a short cut by ATC
that was not known or included during the planning phase. For example: a
crew receives several short cuts from ATC during the flight, shortening the total
flight time by six minutes. This additional time could be used to reduce speed, if
the arrival delay is not a factor. By using Pacelab CI OPS, the pilot can quickly
check, if applying a new speed is beneficial or not. The software would come up
with a recalculated speed suggestion, taking the new parameters in account.

Different Flight Level


One of the most frequent cases is a deviation in the real allocated flight level from
the originally planned one. For example: during climb phase, ATC tells the flight
crew to maintain an altitude below or even above that planned. The question is
whether the ECON speed calculated for the original FL is still the optimum and if
there is an OPS or fuel restriction at the target FL. For example, a higher head wind
in a lower FL can lead to a higher recommended ECON speed. As in the other
cases, the pilot can quickly determine the optimum speed for the new situation.
The previously mentioned examples show, that Pacelab CI OPS is a very easy
to use and powerful tool, putting the pilot in the position of being able to make
informed decisions on a knowledge-based trajectory analysis.

CAPT. JOACHIM SCHEIDERER

Joachim Scheiderer started his flying career in 1995 at the Lufthansa Pilots
School in Bremen and Tucson/Arizona. He started flying as a
First Officer in 1997 and since 2001 has served as a Captain
for Lufthansa CityLine, flying the Bombardier Canadair Jet 200,
700 and 900 fleet.
From 1999 he was appointed to the Flight Operations
Management Team at Lufthansa CityLine, responsible for the area Flight
Operations Engineering. The main focus encompasses Aircraft Performance,
Flight Planning and Weight and Balance issues. Additionally, Joachim
was appointed to the environmental coordinator for the flight operations
sector. Within the scope of this task, Capt. Scheiderer has been responsible
for the planning and coordination of the airlines fuel saving measures.
He successfully developed and implemented the cost index operation
concept within Lufthansa CityLine, making it possible to create fully total
cost optimized trajectories for regional aircraft. Today he is focusing on
improving operational efficiency by the ntroduction of adequate key
performance indicators.
Joachim Scheiderer holds a German university master degree in Industrial
Engineering with a course specialization in Traffic System Engineering and
Corporate Management. In 2008 his first book Angewandte Flugleistung
(Applied Aircraft Performance) was published at the renowned Springer
Verlag. The second one came out in 2010, named Human Factors im
Cockpit (Human Factors in the cockpit).
Joachim Scheiderer teaches Airline Management as a lecturer at the
Karlshochschule International University in Karlsruhe with a focus on
operational issues.

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