American 767 flies with fuel-saving wings

American Airlines said Monday its first Boeing 767-300 airliner equipped with fuel-saving wing tips made its inaugural flight over the weekend.

The jet with 204 passengers flew from Dallas to London on Sunday using winglets that provide extra lift and could cut an individual aircraft’s fuel consumption by as much as 500,000 gallons per year.

The fuel savings and emissions reductions that we will achieve are one more step in our efforts to both moderate costs and shrink the impact we have on our environment, American’s executive vice president of operations, Bob Reding, said in a written statement.

The actual amount of fuel saved depends on how many miles the plane flies over the course of the year; however, airlines have been eager to conserve whatever fuel they can ever since last summer’s spike in jet fuel prices sent operating costs soaring.

American and Boeing plan to install winglets on all 58 of its 767-300 airlines at its Kansas City maintenance center between now and 2011. It earlier installed the devices on its Boeing 737 and 757 jets.