UAL-More Furloughs?

[Dave Benjamin]

some thoughts

Raising CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) by 0.8 mpg would save more oil than drilling ANWR would produce.

IMHO US carmakers have overlooked the obvious when it comes to boosting gas mileage. Lower output engines combined with the proper transmission and axle ratios would boost gas mileage with little R&D costs. Of course top end performance would be limited. I have a 5000 lb VW camper that gets close to 20 mpg. It's powered by a 129 CID 4 cylinder engine. It accelerates surprisingly well and keeps up with traffic just fine. Of course if I drive much faster than 63 or 64 MPH I'll be winding the engine a bit higher than it should be if I want maximum life out of it. Apply the same solution to an SUV or pickup, give it a usable top end of 75-80 MPH and I bet you'd improve gas mileage by at least 15%.

 

[G100driver]

Have you seen the commercials for that Enzyte stuff? Buy some and maybe you'll cheer up. Until then stop spouting your tree hugging hippie crap.

I gotta admit, you really make me laugh .... captain.

 

[Immelman]

This only affecting UAL is temporary because they aren't hedged. right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but hedges at other carriers will *eventually* expire or have to be re-priced, right? If so, other carriers will have to raise fares to cover the fuel costs..... and suddenly so can UAL.

As far as oil goes... guess what, we WILL run out some day. We can either prepare for it now (drllling Alaska doesn't prepare us for this), or suffer the consequences later.

Personally I think running out will be one of the best things that happens, IF we (America) can take the right stand; there is a lot of profit and good jobs to be had in alternative energy, and the whole world will be the customer.... either we step up now or pay someone else (in France perhaps) to do it for us.

 

[T-Bags]

"As far as oil goes... guess what, we WILL run out some day. We can either prepare for it now (drllling Alaska doesn't prepare us for this), or suffer the consequences later."

An illustration of the poor state of US education...
We will NEVER run out of oil. It's NOT all sitting in a nice little tank in TX. Currently, only about HALF of the earths know oil reserves are considered "recoverable". In other words, we can't currently get it out of the ground economically. There are other places that oil could be extracted...for FAR higher than the current $40 or so a barrel. Currently, it costs Saudi Arabia approx $1.50 a barrel to pump oil out of the ground. As the supplies dwindle, the COST WILL GO UP. As the COST GOES UP, ALTERNATIVES BECOME MORE ECONOMICALLY VIABLE. Then you'll see more CNG vehicles. As CNG goes up, you'll see more electric vehicles, or alcohol powered vehicles. And of couse, you'll see other "synthetic" fuels being produced and used. But, in case you missed it, although the price may go up to a prohibitive level, WE WILL NEVER RUN OUT.

 

[Immelman]

SORRY! I was typing figuratively. You're right, we won't run out. Getting the very last drop out won't be economically feasible; my point was that we can either delay the inevitable rise in petrolium cost by tapping more resources, or put ourselves in a leadership position by accelerating techology development to rid ourselves of petrolium reliance.

Again, its a question about who steps up to take charge and executes first; either the US can now, or we'll be subservient later on. Mark my words.

 

[T-Bags]

"put ourselves in a leadership position by accelerating techology development to rid ourselves of petrolium reliance.'

Why not keep the supply as high as possible while we can and while technology developes to some extent on it's own? Would we have been able to build hybrids as efficient as todays 20 years ago? Will we make advances in the next 10 years that will make other technologies more viable? Buy NOT drilling in far away frozen places, we are forcing ourselves to press forward on new technologies that may not have reach maturity. IOW we are self imposing a certain level of unnecessary hardship.

 

[jhill]

I gotta admit, you really make me laugh .... captain.

That's whats intented.

 

[jhill]

Buy NOT drilling in far away frozen places, we are forcing ourselves to press forward on new technologies that may not have reach maturity. IOW we are self imposing a certain level of unnecessary hardship. [/B][/QUOTE]

Thats a reach at best

 

[TWA Dude]

Watch oil production shift more to Iraq, Russia and surprise - possibly Israel.

You're right, it would indeed be a surprise to see oil coming from Israel, a country that hasn't had an oil well since returning the Sinai to Egypt in 1982. Since no Arabs will sell oil to Israel it must purchase from far away places. Gasoline in Israel costs four times the price as in the U.S.

Dude

 

[T-Bags]

He meant OLIVE oil

 

[SMMustang]

G100,

You're right, as a matter of fact, we should adopt a policy that would foster more airpooling, kinda like carpooling.

Yeah, we should levy massive gas taxes on aircraft that carry less than 100 pax.

What I'm saying there ace, is that you are the biggest gas hog of all per pax. If you really feel this way about the environment, you really need to reevaluate your gluttonous use of fossil fuel.

Oh, but I'm just one of the many ignoramuses on this board that are so much lower than you, oh, wise one. So pontificate away and enlighten us all Ralph.

 

[T-Bags]

"You're right, as a matter of fact, we should adopt a policy that would foster more airpooling, kinda like carpooling.

Yeah, we should levy massive gas taxes on aircraft that carry less than 100 pax.

What I'm saying there ace, is that you are the biggest gas hog of all per pax. If you really feel this way about the environment, you really need to reevaluate your gluttonous use of fossil fuel."

Well, I must say, you have a point. Not many things as disgusting as a enviromental socialist cruising around in a G-V. FWIW, EVERYBODY (all commercial traffic) should pay a flat fee for airspace use.