Hey there,
I'm just sitting at ORD's T5 waiting for my flight. I just watched an Iberia A346 arrive at T5 and after deboarding passengers taxiing over to T3 to prepare for its next flight. What struck me was that after pushing back it taxied with its own engines. It's for sure nothing special that planes change terminals between inbound and outbound flights however it's new to me that they use their own power. I'm sure Iberia (or A340 operators in general?) have their reasons to do so. Does anyone of you have some insight as to why they do it? I appreciate your replies!
Cheers,
Paul
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Re: Iberia A340-600 ground ops question
Ok but wouldn't it be more expensive to fire up 4 engines and burn fuel instead of using the tug they use anyway to do the pushback?
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- Florianopolis
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Re: Iberia A340-600 ground ops question
I think the short is answer is because they can, and you don't have to have a tug around to do it. Most likely a mechanic is driving, though, not your typical ramper.
Re: Iberia A340-600 ground ops question
Never seen that before, pretty interesting
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- Starlionblue
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Re: Iberia A340-600 ground ops question
paullam wrote:Ok but wouldn't it be more expensive to fire up 4 engines and burn fuel instead of using the tug they use anyway to do the pushback?
Haven't flown the 340 but I'm guessing two engines have more than enough thrust to propel an empty one around on the ground.
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- jetblueguy22
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Re: Iberia A340-600 ground ops question
Starlionblue wrote:paullam wrote:Ok but wouldn't it be more expensive to fire up 4 engines and burn fuel instead of using the tug they use anyway to do the pushback?
Haven't flown the 340 but I'm guessing two engines have more than enough thrust to propel an empty one around on the ground.
This is A.net, folklore tells us a hair dryer is more powerful than those engines
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- Starlionblue
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Re: Iberia A340-600 ground ops question
jetblueguy22 wrote:Starlionblue wrote:paullam wrote:Ok but wouldn't it be more expensive to fire up 4 engines and burn fuel instead of using the tug they use anyway to do the pushback?
Haven't flown the 340 but I'm guessing two engines have more than enough thrust to propel an empty one around on the ground.
This is A.net, folklore tells us a hair dryer is more powerful than those engines
True, but then again this is a -600.
Re: Iberia A340-600 ground ops question
This happens at ORD every single day and not just with Iberia. I am fleet qualified to taxi at my airline and have several foreign carrier qualifications as well. My experience with Iberia and Lufthansa is that all four engines are run because that's how their chief pilot wants it. We used all four on the A340-300, all four with the -600 and all four with the 747-8. Techs that taxi is very uncommon in Europe and they go a little overboard when it comes to getting Techs qualified here. The best way to get around ORD is to taxi under your own power, and there are tons of maintenance moves every day.
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