United Implementing Program to Reduce Gate Use and Taxi Time

United Airlines says it is implementing a program to reduce its overall gate requirements and taxi time.

The airline is primarily focusing on tightening aircraft turns, to reduce its average time-at-the gate by eight minutes; depeaking operations at additional hubs; and optimizing block time.  Overall, United believes these steps can create the equivalent of 10 additional aircraft.

(Block time is the elapsed time between releasing the parking brake at departure to setting the parking brake at arrival.  Many airlines use the action of releasing brakes to trigger their aircraft's ACARS (aircraft communications addressing and reporting system) "out" event, which automatically commences the start of the flight's block time for accounting purposes.)

One action United is taking is to change its policy of using an early brake release to "make" an on-time departure, which was done at the cost of artificially inflating the block time.  Another is to better manage the time when the aircraft departs the gate in ground delay situations.  Based on initial reports, United says it has already achieved more than a one-minute reduction in taxi-out time, because of this new procedure.

Other new block allocation measures are being tested on all Ted flights and will be implemented throughout its mainline later this year, the airline says.  02-03-2006.

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