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<p>[quote user="henry6"]</p> <blockquote> <div> <div style="clear:both;"></div> <p> </p> </div> </blockquote> <p> </p> <p>I sense some faulty reasoning here.  A larger plane needs a larger runway or airport and therefor puts more financial burden on local governements who own and operate the airports.  A larger plane is costlier to operate which might lead to fewer flights, less service or abandonment of service and giving over to much smaller aircraft.  These problems could even happen between larger market airports, especially the fewer flights. [/quote]</p> <p>Not always!  Take a look at the engineering performance curves for a Boeing 737-700 compared to a B737-300. The 700 carries 189 passengers when it is configured for Southwest whilst the 300 carries fewer passengers.  It is one of the reasons Southwest is phasing out the earlier models.  </p> <p>Take off and climb to altitude are a function of numerous variables.  The thrust to weight ratio is a major factor. If a "heavy" (767, 777, etc.) is going oversea, i.e. LAX to Sydney, it needs a lot more runway because it is taking off with a maximum fuel load.  On the other hand, if a heavy was being used between relatively close in cities, i.e. LAX to SFO or LGA to National, it could operate with a fraction of its normal fuel load, thereby reducing the amount of runway required to take-off and land, not to mention the load bearing capability of the runways. </p> <p>Now there is no need to operate heavies between any city pairs in the United States.  But if we get to a point where airport capacity and airways capacity is an issue, the aircraft and the airways capacity can be expanded.  Moreover, by the time we get there the aircraft industry is likely to come up with a variety of larger, more fuel efficient birds that will be able to meet the traffic demands.</p> <p>Whether larger planes are costlier to operate depends on numerous variables.  It is not a given.  The seat mile cost of a Boeing 737-800 is considerably less than the seat mile cost of a 737-300, which is a smaller airplane.  </p> <p>One of the weaknesses of the passenger train advocacy group is an implied assumption that the technologies of competing modes of transport are locked and will not advance.  As I have said repeatedly, I would not count on it.  </p>
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