How do airlines cut fuel usage, reducing their carbon emissions?
Jan K. Brueckner, Matthew E. Kahn, Jerry Nickelsburg
Abstract
Airline fuel consumption is costly for the firms and for society as well due to a climate-change externality. We study how fuel-price changes affect cost-minimizing choices by airlines that have implications for the extent of this externality. The airline industry’s capital stock can be easily inventoried as a set of long-lived, durable aircraft. This portfolio approach allows us to study the utilization and composition of the capital stock at a highly disaggregated level. Changes in airline operations directed toward conserving fuel can be an important path toward lower emissions.
Topics & Concepts
BusinessGreenhouse gasTransport engineeringEnvironmental scienceWaste managementAir travelCarbon fibersEnvironmental economicsAviationEngineeringComputer scienceEconomicsEcologyBiologyAerospace engineeringAlgorithmComposite numberEnergy, Environment, and Transportation PoliciesVehicle emissions and performanceAdvanced Aircraft Design and Technologies