Many companies are starting to see the benefits of tracking their fleets with GPS-based solutions in terms of fuel cost savings and more efficient route planning. With GPS, you can constantly optimize your routes, which will add directly to the bottom line over time through more efficient use of resources. American Airlines recently reported an investment of $400 million to upgrade its entire fleet with GPS navigation systems to operate more efficiently:
“I think we are going to save several thousand pounds of fuel on this one flight,” he said.
And that could mean more cost savings for American, which spent $9 billion on jet fuel in 2008, if it is allowed more trans-Atlantic flights that use the new technology. The carrier has said it wants to save 120 million gallons of fuel and reduce carbon emissions by 2.5 billion pounds this year.
Flight 63 will use an optimized route determined by GPS, not a route predetermined by air traffic controllers. GPS lets controllers track a plane all the way across the Atlantic, even when it’s out of radar range, unlike the Air France plane that disappeared from radar last week. GPS would help maintain appropriate separation among planes.
In addition to the cost savings and reduced environmental impact, GPS will help avoid tragedies like the disappearance of the Air France flight over the Atlantic.