It's not just the fuel that is expensive. The predominate method of = paying the crew members is by the minute. On a wide body you may have = 12 flight attendants and several pilots who are being paid accordingly. = The aircraft itself is running up block time (read expensive) even = though it is actually "out of service" while it holds for an hour or two = in line. Bob ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Gerard M Foley<mailto:gfoley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>=20 To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>=20 Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 10:49 PM Subject: Flow Control Friday I was in a Southwest 737 that waited about half an hour at the=20 gate in Columbus for clearance to start for Philadelphia. We made the = flight in a couple of minutes over an hour, landing without delay. Returning Sunday night the plane left the gate and spent an hour on = the=20 taxiway, engines idling, moving half a dozen or more times, until we = got=20 to the head of the line and took off for our hour and a quarter flight = to Columbus. Does it cost much fuel to have the engines turning over, revving up to = move forward and so on for an hour, with a dozen or more planes in = line?=20 Couldn't the same excellent flow control that holds at the gate for a=20 clear landing slot at the destination be used to hold at the gate = until=20 it is really time to get out to the runway at the originating airport? Gerry http://www.pbase.com/gfoley9999/<http://www.pbase.com/gfoley9999/> http://www.wilowud.net/<http://www.wilowud.net/> http://home.columbus.rr.com/gfoley<http://home.columbus.rr.com/gfoley> = http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/pollock/263/egypt/egypt.html<http://= www.fortunecity.com/victorian/pollock/263/egypt/egypt.html> = http://foley.foleypages.net/~gerry/<http://foley.foleypages.net/~gerry/> =