As a career ANA captain, Tsukamoto had flown the Seattle-Tokyo leg many times in different aircraft. He knows by memory that a 747-400 needs at least 136,000kg (300,000lb) to make that trip. The smaller, leaner 777-300ER needs nearly 100,000kg. For the 787-8, the fuel gauge that drizzly September day in Seattle read 63,500kg for the Pacific crossing.
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Tsukamoto is not alone. In Warsaw, LOT Polish Airlines chief executive Sebastian Mikosz says the 787 is “like a glider”, describing an average fuel flow per hour of only 2t (4,410lbs), compared with his fleet average of 4.6t. In Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airlines chief pilot Yohannes Hailemariam says the fuel load that pushes a 767-300ER to Rome can propel a 787-8 to Frankfurt, nearly 20% further on a direct line. In Luton, UK, Thomson Airways managing director John Murphy says the 787 is also demonstrating nearly 20% improvement, a figure that is “good for us”.
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On the other extreme are Air Canada’s expectations for the Dreamliner. After taking delivery of its first two General Electric GEnx-1B-powered 787-8s earlier this year, chief executive Calin Rovinescu told analysts that he expects the aircraft to yield 29% lower unit seat-mile cost than the 191-seat 767-300s that are being replaced. In a second-quarter earnings call, Rovinescu cited the example of the Toronto-Tel Aviv route, on which a 251-seat 787-8 can carry 31% more passengers and more than triple the cargo while burning 3% less fuel per trip than the 767.
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LOT’s Mikosz recalls sitting in the cockpit on a 787-8 flight from Warsaw to Beijing, which requires a relatively rapid descent after crossing the Gobi DesertNormally with a 767 it was like a stone – you idle down [the engines] and [the aircraft] goes down,” Mikosz says. “Here, [the pilot] said, ‘My glider doesn’t want to go down.’ So she air-braked, she [moved the engine throttles] to idle and pushed the aircraft down. And it was [still] gliding.”