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United Takes Polar Express on Flights to China, Japan: Route Reduces Time, Fuel Use and Costs

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 April 2006, 09:01 CDT

By Mark Skertic, Chicago Tribune

Apr. 4--More airline passengers are flying over the North Pole, viewing out their small windows a seemingly endless horizon of ice and snow meeting blue sky. At night, the brilliance of the Aurora Borealis, the dancing northern lights, shimmers in the distance.

And while fliers get a glance at a part of the world few ever visit, airlines are not selling a tour of the Earth's hidden beauty.

The shortcut over the top of the world is designed to do little more than save time and money.

"If we had to go more south, on more traditional routes, we would not be able to carry all the passengers we carry, and we wouldn't carry all the cargo," said Sean Donohue, United Airlines' vice president of operational services.

United is on pace to fly more than 1,500 passenger flights over the pole this year, beating the record of 1,402 it set last year. United, which flies more Asian routes than any other airline, began polar flights in earnest in 2000, with 253 flights.

The next closest passenger airline in terms of polar flyovers was Continental Airlines, with 796 last year. Air Canada was third, with 515 flights.

As United and others seek to increase their service to Asia, the Arctic routes are becoming a more popular path to Shanghai, Tokyo and Beijing.

Instead of flying west, across Alaska's Aleutian Islands and over the Pacific Ocean, the polar flights go over Canada, across the North Pole and down through Russia and Mongolia. It can save an airline an hour or more in travel time.

"From a customer-convenience standpoint, as well as from a business standpoint, it's something that makes a tremendous amount of sense," Donohue said.

The opening of more routes into China has cleared the way for more polar flights, making it easier to get permission to fly over Chinese air space.

A variety of factors determines a plane's route, including weather, wind speeds and solar activity. If solar flares, explosions on the face of the sun, are occurring, planes typically avoid the area to avoid undue exposure to radiation.

When winds and other factors are favorable, flying over the pole makes economic sense, said Joseph Vickers, director of flight dispatch at United's headquarters in Elk Grove Township. The dispatch center plans the flights and stays in close contact with the pilot.

The dispatcher and captain set up the flight, determining route, altitude and how much fuel to carry. The latter is a major consideration. A Boeing 747 burns about 20,000 pounds of fuel an hour, so a route that saves time means savings in an era of record fuel prices.

"Now, there's 20,000 pounds less fuel you have to put on the airplane, so that's going to now have more payload," Vickers said. "That's going to allow us to operate our flights from Chicago and from New York with a full complement of passengers. And we can stick in about 5,000 pounds of freight.

"Without that, we're leaving the freight off. And there's roughly 50 passengers that we would be leaving behind, but we would have never sold those seats."

The differences in weight and time can be striking. On Monday, United's Chicago-to-Hong Kong flights carried 333 passengers and took 14 hours and 52 minutes with a route that went over the pole.

Given the day's wind conditions, the same flight routed over eastern Russia would have taken 16 hours and six minutes and been able to carry 150 passengers. If it had been sent over the Pacific, the plane would have carried 70 passengers and taken an estimated 16 hours, 31 minutes.

While distance is a factor that flight controllers consider, they also look at winds and other weather factors, said Mike Stills, manager of international operations flight dispatch.

"When winds are really strong, it's more advantageous to fly a polar route, where there's no wind," he said.

Commercial service over the pole began in the 1990s, as agreements with Russia opened air space to commercial airlines. Northwest Airlines and United were the largest users of the routes in the earliest days, although Northwest, which is operating in bankruptcy protection, has since dropped routes over the pole.

In the mid-1990s, United would suspend service between Chicago and Hong Kong in the winter. A 17-hour westbound flight, it became impractical during months when jets had to fight through tremendous headwinds, Vickers said. Going over the pole made it possible to offer the service year-round.

The reason United is using the polar route so often these days is because of the increased frequency of its flights to Asia.

Technically, flying over the pole presents few additional challenges for a pilot, said United Capt. Owen Maddox.

"It's actually better for the passengers, because the polar region is glass smooth," he said.

Pilots and flight operators monitoring the flight at United keep a close watch on fuel temperature. If it gets below 38 degrees Fahrenheit, the fuel can begin to solidify into a gel. If it starts to get too cold, the pilot will drop down into a heavier atmosphere, putting more pressure on the wings, where fuel is stored.

Like passengers, pilots also enjoy the view of the snow, ice caps and frigid waters below.

"It really is different looking," Maddox said. "The farther north you get, the better visibility you have. It's a real winter wonderland."

mskertic@tribune.com

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Source: Chicago Tribune

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