From MSNBC:
NEW YORK - Drivers have long known that slowing down on the highway means getting more miles to the gallon. Now airlines are trying it, too — adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on fuel.
Southwest Airlines started flying slower about two months ago, and projects it will save $42 million in fuel this year by extending each flight by one to three minutes.
On one Northwest Airlines flight from Paris to Minneapolis earlier this week alone, flying slower saved 162 gallons of fuel, saving the airline $535. It added eight minutes to the flight, extending it to eight hours, 58 minutes.
Kind of reminds me of when American Airlines took an olive out of every salad and saved loads of money. Of course, that was not a response to the price of olives, it was just a general cost cutting measure. But the idea is similar. By decreasing their speed (i.e. decreasing the thrust from the engines) they save a few dollars on each flight. Multiply it by many flights a day over many days and before long it does potentially save a respectable amount of money.
As the price goes up, there does come a point where the airlines decide to try to reduce the quantity of fuel purchased. The demand for fuel by airlines is "derived demand" meaning that it also depends on the market (i.e. the price) of the output. But derived demand curves slope downward too, ceteris paribus.
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