Journal of Korean Society of Transportation ISSN:1229-1366(Print) 2234-4217(Online) 대한교통학회지

With open sky policy and liberal air service, low-cost carriers have dramatically expanded their influence in the world. Korean LCCs have also made great effort to be survived under fierce competition and rapid growth. Under the highly competitive market, air transportation service has a very limited way to differentiate itself without price competition. Thus, it is required to minimize the operation cost. Since aircraft fuel causes approximately 25% of the entire operation cost, airlines should put an effort to minimize the cost from fuel consumption. There are a variety of ways to reduce fuel consumption. But at the same time, it is very important to reduce aircraft weight itself. In fact, by loading fuel, the aircraft total gross weight increases significantly. This ‘loading fuel’ is calculated based on aviation regulation. But at the same time, extra fuel is also loaded as a part of loading fuel. Most airlines allow their airmen to load fuel additionally. It is called ‘discretionary fuel.’ This fuel has been loaded based on flight dispatcher’s decision or Captaion. However, with short of reference and guideline, dispatchers tend to decide it by taking advice from their senior or their experience. Under the same situation, it causes different fuel calculation depending on dispatchers. The purpose of this research is to reduce unnecessary fuel on the premise of safety. According to the research, there is a 61.7% chance of loading discretionary fuel after dispatcher checks negative destination airport weather. As a result of study, It shows the average fuel consumption based on the safety index provided by EASA and the FAA and the result will be 715kg. Whereas the dispatcher mainly relies on their subjective perspective, this analysis result is based on records and specific criteria. Thus, by using the analysis result, airlines will be able to expect to reduce fuel consumption. In the future, it is necessary to analyze more detailed fleets, data and records from other airlines.