The Art of Turning Around an Airplane

[matsur]

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/16/nyregion/jfk-airport-new-york-101.html

[davidf18]

A B777: 4:23 AM landing to 12:26 PM takeoff -- about 8 hours for turnaround which surprises me because it seems like a very long time.

1 hour 15 mins for 236,000 pounds of jet fuel to be loaded on the plane which has a maximum takeoff weight of 656,000 pounds.

[t0mas88 → davidf18]

That amount of fuel sounds about right. The usual for a jet that size is between 25% and 40% of take off weight.

The turn around included maintenance which isn't always done. And it's quite a big plane requiring more time for boarding and restocking.

If you look at for example easyjet turning around a much smaller airbus A320 for a short haul within the EU, they do it in 25 to 30 minutes.

[cmurf → davidf18]

I think this is a hub turn around, where they do more cleaning and maintenance, which doesn't happen every turn around. I know Lufthansa FRA-DEN-FRA turns that 747 around in Denver in about 2.5 hours.