Dear friends and Followers I am back from my trip to New York City
That's why I wasn't able to upload a video last week
So sorry for that today's topic will cover parts of airline operation costs and with a special focus on
What is a cost index, so let's get started. Cook 13, Runway 27 cleared for take-off. (Music)
This video is sponsored by audible go to
www.audible.com/captainjoe
Joe or click the link in description the Box below to get an exclusive
30-Day free Trial and a book of your choice for free
For example I would recommend the Highest Duty by Captain Sullenberger
Or other aviation related books. Now as we're going to explain the cost index in a moment
We first need to take a look at some airline operation costs
Which are a defining part of the cost index. Now most operation costs are given in cost per hour
Meaning how expensive is it to operate an Airbus A320 per hour?
regarding the cost of the actual airplane like leasing rates, crew,
plane Maintenance airport charges like the landing and takeoff fees or ground services and
many other Factors which play a big part in
Keeping the airplane in the air and making an airline profitable. And as you might have noticed
I didn't mention another very big factor
Fuel costs, but I'll get back to that in a minute
now the cost index value ranges from 0 to 999
To get the cost index you need to divide the flying costs by the fuel costs per hour now
Let me give you an example
The flying costs of an Airbus A320 are roughly sixteen thousand five hundred US dollars per hour
Including all the expenses I've mentioned before
The average fuel flow of an A320 is at about
2,300 kilograms per hour which equals one thousand one hundred us dollars per hour
and if you divide those two factors you get the cost index for your flight
Now the flying costs don't vary that much
The leasing rates are pretty fixed over the years so is the salary of the crew and the maintenance schedules are fairly repetitive
too, but the airport costs can differ a lot
that's one of the reasons why Low-cost airlines flies to these cheap little
Airports to reduce the overall Expenses, but the fuel price constantly varies over time. now
Let's say the fuel costs per hour are at
$800 dollars, you would see that the cost index would immediately rise
as you type in the cost index on the MCDU you the
FMS
Will calculate the speed for the different flight phases
climb, Cruise and descend in accordance with the cost index so the more expensive the fuel
The lower is the cost index the slower the aircraft will fly to be more economically
Efficient the higher the cost index the faster the plane will fly due to the fact that the fuel is cheap
But keep in mind
Flying faster also means your engines will burn more fuel per hour
Meaning you'll need more trip fuel for the same distance compared to a lower cost index
now the cost index won't
influence the take of all the approach part of the flight so will start and end the profile at
10,000 feet
Given the fact that a lot of airlines have speed restrictions below 10,000 feet so the cost index is negligible
Using a lower cost index the Aircraft will fly at a reasonable low speed
Resulting in a higher climb rate due to the excessive engine thrust at
The same time it will recommend to fly at higher levels
Resulting in a lower fuel burn and a slower speeds the higher cost index will
Recommend a lower level which will result in higher speed obviously [at] a higher fuel burn as you are flying
Faster most of the Engine's thrust is used to maintain the high speed
resulting in a lower pitch attitude
Giving you a lower climb rate as you start you descend with the lower cost index your top of this endpoint is fairly
Early as you are descending at a lower speed?
Resulting in a lower descent rate the average descent rate would be at about
1500 feet per Minute using the High cost Index will lead to a
relatively late top of descent resulting in a high descent rate and speed
as
the Constant index can either
Lengthen or Shorten the flight time it is very efficient on flights
Which are longer than two or more hours depending on the current fuel price ETC.
Shorter domestic flight a high cost Index will reduce the flight time by only one to six minutes which in my opinion is not very
efficient
But sometimes your company will send you a message stating that you should
Increase the cost index to reduce delays if you have passengers on Board with connecting flights or other reasons
So as you can see the cost index is the suite balance between flight
operational costs, current fuel prices and the flight time if you are wanting to become an airline pilot
This is also a common question during your airline assessment so save this video in your playlist
I hope you enjoyed this video about the cost index make sure to perform a touching and go at my instagram account the link in the
Description below and subscribe to my channel, so you won't miss out upcoming videos?
Thanks for your time all the best your Captain Joe
Please click on the audible link in the video description below so you don't miss out this great opportunity on getting an exclusive
30-Day free Trial with audible they are the leading provider of premium spoken audio books and other audio
Products, I've been an audible use of acquired some time now and I am amazed at their huge variety of audiobooks
We you can easily download onto your smartphone
iPad or other mobile devices I use it when I'm on a preceding flight or driving to work and
currently
I'm listening to the best-selling book the presentation secrets of Steve Jobs
to learn on how to give a perfect presentation in the future because I'm going to give an aviation related
Presentation on how to become a pilot at the end of this year and thanks to audible
I got this book for free using my 30-day free trial
So make sure to check it out because there is always something new you can read listen and learn
Maybe I should bring out my own audiobook in the future