Fuel Reduction for the Mobility Air Forces

Reducing aviation fuel use is an ongoing goal for military and civil operators, and Air Mobility Command is feeling increasing pressure to further reduce fuel use by implementing and following known best practices. Although the Air Force had achieved a 12 percent reduction in fuel consumption by March 2012, it must continue to pursue cost-effective options to reduce fuel use even further. The authors considered 16 options for reducing fuel use and determined that 12 of these were cost-effective. However, about half of these have some negative implications. These 16 options, including installing winglets on the Mobility Air Forces fleet, vortex surfing to take advantage of the upwash created during flight, and engine-out taxiing to reduce engine use when the aircraft is on the ground, are examined in detail although only six options are both cost-effective and can be reasonably implemented.