14 DAY TRIAL // Two of the largest aeronautics corporations in the United States, the Boeing Company and American Airlines, have recently signed an agreement solidifying their cooperation for improving aviation.
The two companies want to develop and test emerging technologies that would make flights safer, cheaper, and more environmentally-friendly, while at the same time ensuring that noise pollution is kept to a strict minimum.
Reducing fuel consumption, carbon emissions and community noise are the main objectives of the new collaborative effort, which will be focused on a single Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 aircraft. The project is called the ecoDemonstrator Program.
The aircraft will be used extensively, in order to flight test and accelerate the market readiness of emerging technologies that the two corporations decide upon. It is within their best interest to ensure that innovative technologies make their way to the market.
According to officials from the two companies, the new endeavor is being carried out under the guises of the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Continuous Lower Energy Emissions Noise (CLEEN) program.
In addition to the American Airlines 737-800 aircraft that will act as a testbed at first, an additional, two-aisle airplane will be used further down the road. Its type, size and owner have yet to be established, but officials hope to have the issue under wraps as soon as possible.
“We are proud to have American Airlines as our launch partner for this new generation of technology that can bolster aviation's role as the most efficient means of global transportation,” says Billy Glover.
“There's no better way to prepare advanced technologies for market entry than flying them and no better choice than the best selling single-aisle airplane of all time – the Boeing Next-Generation 737,” he goes on to say.
Glover is the Boeing Vice President of Environment and Aviation Policy. He was one of the architects of the new cooperative effort, which also eyes improving the ability to optimize flight trajectories while in mid-flight.
“American Airlines recognizes our responsibility to minimize our impact on the environment as much as possible, and we look for every opportunity to do so,” says the vice president of AA Flight, Captain John Hale.
“Our partnership with Boeing allows us to make significant strides in putting more fuel-efficient planes in the air, which is the most effective way to reduce our carbon footprint,,” he concludes.