And for once, I am not exaggerating. Going by the amount of fuel that an airplane ingests every minute in the air, its easy to see how shaving off even a few minutes for every flight would lead to dramatic savings in fuel, thus costs and more importantly on their carbon emissions.

FAA officials at San Francisco International Airport watched the arrival of a blue-tailed Boeing 777 Airways New Zealand flight from Auckland to showcase airplanes controlled and monitored by satellite-based GPS rather than ground-based radar.

The flight was the first of its kind for the airline and part of an ongoing FAA effort to streamline trans-Pacific flights.

After exiting the plane, the Airways New Zealand pilot said Fridays flight saved 1,200 gallons (4,542 liters) of jet fuel and avoided 12 tons (11 metric tons) of carbon from being emitted into the air. Plus, passengers arrived five minutes ahead of schedule.

I couldnt put it better then Robert Sturgell of the FAA - From taxi to touch down, its flat out green. While a lot of environmentalists protest against usage of jet planes, its simply illogical to argue that mankind could do without air travel. Its small innovations such as this which will one day make the difference. Thats, at least until they make fuel cells that could keep the planes in air.

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