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United Airlines, a unit of UAL, could ground up to 100 planes to save money on fuel expenses, a company official said, and other big carriers are said to be talking about similar steps.
Separately, two United States senators have asked federal aviation and transportation officials to look
into a report that carriers may, in some cases, have cut back on fuel reserves to reduce expenses, possibly violating safety regulations.
Carriers are scrambling to meet demand and maintain their profit momentum from a successful summer travel season amid continued pressure from high energy prices.
Crude oil was up nearly US$1 ($1.31) on Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange to US$96.40 a barrel. Every US$1 increase in crude oil prices cost airlines US$470 million, industry statistics show.
As energy prices have soared, airlines have sagged on Wall St. Industry shares collectively were down again on Friday and were off 11 per cent for the week.
Jake Brace, United's chief financial officer, told investors last week the company had the option of grounding planes if flying them became too costly or if demand waned.
"We have a lot of flexibility in our fleet in that we have a little over 100 unencumbered aircraft that we could ground, sell, whatever we needed to if the demand environment were such that it didn't make sense to fly those planes," Brace said.
An industry insider familiar with planning at the big carriers said at the weekend that other airlines were also talking about mothballing aircraft if fuel prices continued to skyrocket.
Another industry expert said bigger airlines such as United, American Airlines, and Northwest Airlines historically have had flexibility with their aircraft.
"They all have significant parts of their fleet they can park cheaply," said airline consultant Michael Boyd.
Carriers have raised fares to offset higher costs, and a report last week also suggested airlines might have under-fuelled planes to reduce weight, making them less expensive to fly.
Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both New Jersey Democrats, sought investigations into a report by WABC-TV in New York that more planes over a six-month period this year landed at Newark airport with minimum fuel than in a similar time frame two years ago. In some cases this year, pilots declared fuel emergencies for immediate clearance to land, the report said.
"Operating under these conditions regularly can put passengers at risk, especially if multiple landing attempts must be made," Lautenberg wrote to Transportation Department inspector-general Calvin Scovel.
Current rules require passenger aircraft have extra fuel to reach a second airport and fly at least 30 minutes beyond that.
- Reuters