aircraft
Reducing Emissions
AirTran Airways' principle of delivering the best flying experience to smart travelers includes a strategy of reducing emissions from aircraft operations.
Our Efforts to Reduce Emissions
- Our fleet upgrade from DC-9 aircraft to Boeing 717 aircraft produced a 56% reduction in low altitude emissions, reducing emissions per seat from 303 grams to 134 grams.
- Our fuel conservation efforts provide further emission reductions:
- Single-engine taxi operations
- Reduced APU operations in favor of ground air sources
- Reduced Thrust Takeoff Profiles on both 717 and 737 aircraft further reduce low altitude emissions
- Installation of Aerodynamic Efficient Blended Winglets on 737 aircraft
US Airline Engine Emissions Comparison
Emissions Comparison (NOx, CO, and HC) by Seat based on ICAO Engine Sampling Data* — Top 10 US Air Carriers by ASM
* ICAO sample data reports low altitude emissions by takeoff, climb, descent and landing phase of flights — defined as an LTO cycle (see notes below for details).
Information on how emissions information was calculated
All information was obtained from the ICAO Engine Exhaust Emissions Data Bank.
- Emissions indices used for study: Oxides of Nitrogen (Nox), HydroCarbons (HC) and Carbon Monoxide (CO)
- Emissions are measured for each engine over its LTO cycle for total emissions emitted in grams.
- LTO cycle is measured as one take-off, climb, approach and idle operation of a single engine.
- US Operator Data is from calendar year 2006.