BRAD BACHTEL AIRPORT OPERATIONS LEAD AIRPORT TECHNOLOGY BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES MONTE FRAZIER DIRECTOR OF LONG-RANGE OPERATIONS STRATEGY MARKETING BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES OREN HADALLER PRINCIPAL ENGINEER PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES CAPT. CARL MINKNER MANAGER FLIGHT TECHNICAL SERVICES HONEYWELL COMMERCIAL ELECTRONICS SERVICES MOHAN PANDEY SENIOR MANAGER OPERATIONAL REGULATORY AFFAIRS BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES WILLIAM ROYCE 777 SENIOR TECHNICAL PILOT The official opening of cross-polar routes in FLIGHT OPERATIONS TECHNICAL SUPPORT February 2001 marked an important step in air travel BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES DONALD RUHMANN between North America and Asia. These new routes MANAGER 777 ETOPS AND LONG-RANGE OPERATIONS offer time, fuel, and environmental advantages BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES FRANK SANTONI over conventional routes and allow nonstop service 777 CHIEF PILOT ENGINEERING FLIGHT TEST between new city pairs. Operations are similar BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES JAMES VASATKA in many ways to conventional long-range routes. PROGRAM MANAGER POLAR ROUTE STRATEGY After two and one-half years and more than BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES ANTON ZHIGANOV 650 demonstration flights, airlines have the experience SENIOR MANAGER OF COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS RUSSIA/COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES and planning tools to make polar operations routine. BOEING OPERATIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. FLIGHT OPERATIONS AERO 11 1 REGULATORY GUIDANCE The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires I An autothrottle system. U.S. operators to obtain specific approval to conduct I Flight crew communication systems that satisfy the polar operations. The approval process validates airlines’ FAA requirement for effective communication capability. preparedness to conduct such operations. The FAA defines the North Polar area of operations as the area lying I An expanded medical kit with automated external north of 78 deg north latitude (fig. 2, p. 14). The FAA defibrillators. information memorandum Guidance for Polar Operations (March 5, 2001) outlines 10 issues: Airline training. Operators must meet five requirements for their training Airport requirements for designation programs: as en route alternates. I All operators must define a sufficient set of alternate air- Training for flight crews and dispatchers on queen's field elevation (QFE), queen's normal height (QNH), and ommercial airlines were flying north of the through reduced fuel consumption and asso- ports, such that one or more can be reasonably expected to C be available in varying weather conditions. The FAA will meter/feet altimetry as well as cold-temperature altitude Arctic Circle before the jet age. Today, commercial ciated emissions. (See “Polar Routes Offer New assess the operators’ ability to safely land and maneuver correction procedures. traffic routinely flies in the region on routes between Opportunities” on p. 22.) airplanes off the runways at selected alternate airports. I Special curriculum segments on cold fuel management Europe and the West Coast of North America. When preparing and conducting polar operations, The selected alternates also must be able to provide for procedures for maintenance, dispatch, and flight crews. crew and passenger needs. airlines should consider the following: The new cross-polar routes connect eastern I Route-specific training on weather patterns. and interior regions of North America to Asian cities Airline recovery plan for passengers 1. Regulatory guidance. at diversion alternates. I via the North Polar region (fig. 1). These airways Instructing maintenance personnel to provide informa- 2. En route alternate airports. All operators must have an FAA-approved recovery plan tion on airplane system capabilities to dispatch and provide an attractive shortcut to Asia, which can for unplanned diversions. The recovery plan should address flight crews, which will aid flight crews in diversion open new air travel markets. These shortcuts also 3. Cold fuel management. the care and safety of passengers and crew at the diversion decisionmaking. airport and provide a plan to transport passengers and crew make service to existing city pairs more efficient 4. Communication and navigation. from that airport. Operators should be able to demonstrate I The use of cold-weather antiexposure suits. their ability to launch and conduct the recovery plan on their initial applications for polar route approval. Operators must Long-range crew requirements. 1 NEW CROSS-POLAR ROUTES VIA THE NORTH POLAR REGION maintain the accuracy and completeness of their recovery Consistent with all long-range operations, operators must FIGURE plans as part of their annual audits. have approved crew rest plans and a clear progression of pilot-in-command authority. Fuel freeze strategy and monitoring requirements. Operators can use a fuel temperature analysis and monitoring Dispatch and crew considerations during solar flare. program in lieu of the standard minimum fuel freeze Operators should be aware of the content of FAA temperatures. In such cases, the program must be accepted Advisory Circular (AC) 120-52, Radiation Exposure of by the FAA. Air Carrier Crewmembers, and provide crew training as stated in AC 120-61, Crewmember Training on In-Flight Communication capability. Radiation Exposure. Operators must have effective communication capability for all portions of the flight route. Operators accomplish this Special equipment. by using a combination of very-high-frequency (VHF) voice, The FAA requires a minimum of two cold-weather VHF data link, high-frequency (HF) voice, HF data link, antiexposure suits on board North Polar flights so satellite communication (SATCOM) voice, and SATCOM that outside coordination at a diversion airport can be data link systems. accomplished safely. Minimum equipment list considerations. Validation requirements for area approval. For polar operations dispatch, operators’ minimum equipment Operators are required to conduct an FAA-observed lists (MEL) must include the following: validation flight and reaction-and-recovery plan for a simulated airplane diversion at one of the designated I A fuel-quantity-indicating system that includes en route alternate airports. The flight and plan imple- temperature indication. mentation may be conducted together or separately. If I For two-engine airplanes, an auxiliary power unit the reaction-and-recovery plan is completed before the (APU) that includes electrical and pneumatic supply to validation flight, the validation flight may be conducted its designed capability. as a revenue flight. AERO AERO 12 13 extended-range twin-engine opera- potential exists for fuel temperatures of –50˚C. (Note: Because specifications 2 AREA OF NORTH POLAR OPERATIONS tions. The ASOAs also identified how to approach the freezing point. However, may vary by country, operators should FIGURE the airport infrastructures compared current airplane systems and operating ensure that they are using the appro- with the international standards procedures provide confidence that fuel priate fuel procurement specification of the International Civil Aviation will continue to flow unobstructed to for the fuel being dispensed.) Organization (ICAO). the engines in all plausible cold-weather The maximum freezing point for Airlines preparing for polar opera- conditions likely to be experienced on some jet fuels can vary by the geo- tions should review the ASOAs to polar routes. graphical region in which the fuel is determine which airports suit the needs refined or uplifted. Test methods for of their particular operational philoso- Properties of fuel at very low determining the fuel freezing point also phies. Airlines also should contact the temperatures. introduce variability; reproducibility is airports to assess changes that may The fuel freezing point is the tempera- approximately 2.5˚C. have occurred since the assessments ture at which wax crystals, which form Some operators in the United States were conducted. Copies of the ASOAs in the fuel as it cools, completely measure the actual freezing point are available to Boeing operators disappear when the fuel is rewarmed. of delivered Jet A fuel at the time of on line through MyBoeingFleet.com (This should not be confused with the dispatch. Data show that the freezing and on CD-ROM through their Boeing fuel becoming cloudy upon cooling, point of delivered Jet A fuel is approxi- Field Service representative. (Note: which results when water dissolved in mately 3˚C lower than the specification Although the ASOAs are detailed the fuel freezes, forming a suspension of maximum of – 40˚C. Table 1 (p. 16) assessments, they do not constitute very fine ice crystals. Airplane fuel and shows the results of a study completed certification of the individual airports.) engine systems are designed to handle at several airports in the United States water ice crystals safely.) to verify the actual freezing point of 3 COLD FUEL MANAGEMENT The Jet A fuel specification limits the Jet A fuel as delivered to the airplane. freezing point to a maximum of – 40˚C; (An airline must verify the freezing Because of the extended flight dura- the Jet A-1 limit is – 47˚C maximum. point of the loaded fuel at dispatch if tion and the prevalence of very cold In Russia, the fuels are TS-1 and RT, the airline uses a value other than the air masses on the polar routes, the which have a maximum freezing point maximum specification.) The FAA looks for the following capabi- 2 EN ROUTE ALTERNATE AIRPORTS lities at alternate