About 3 1/2 hours into the flight, as most passengers began falling asleep, the plane made a slight shift of about 100 miles to the east after receiving an updated weather and wind report via satellite. With the exception of the pilot, no one on the plane was aware that the flight path had been changed.
A second weather update about six hours later, as the plane neared the Hawaiian Islands, prompted the pilot to adjust the plane's path once more.
Normally, airliners follow a predetermined route planned before takeoff. As a result, the flight path can differ significantly from the shortest route possible between two points on the globe. Following the so-called great circle is considered an ideal route for time and fuel savings.
As the plane approached San Francisco, it began a gradual descent that was smoother and quieter than usual. It followed a "tailored approach," in which air-traffic controllers worked with the airline to have the plane descend in a straight line, as though it were on cruise control, without having to throttle the jet engines up and down to follow the typical "step-down" landing pattern.
The FAA hopes to implement the landing procedure at Los Angeles International Airport next year. The FAA said the continuous descent approach could reduce noise by 30% at LAX, helping to address complaints from people living near the airport.
The fuel savings of 1,200 gallons was relatively small considering that the plane used 27,700 gallons, but Air New Zealand CEO Fyfe touted the wider potential of airlines' adopting some of the techniques demonstrated in Friday's flight.
"This is no PR stunt," said Fyfe, speaking before the flight, which he did not take. "When you start multiplying the savings just across our own network of flights and then apply that to other airlines, you get the real sense of the potential for cutting millions of tons of fuel and carbon dioxide emissions."
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peter.pae@latimes.com
