Thanks to the expertise of Local 530 members in Kansas City, an American Airlines Boeing 767 became the first such aircraft affixed with blended winglets to fly a revenue flight.  It was a March 8th Dallas/Fort Worth to Heathrow, London flight with 204 passengers aboard.

The March 8th flight was the culmination of the effort after an extensive testing period.  According to Local 530’s M.E. Johnson, work on the winglets “is our bread and butter” at the base for the next few years.

Winglet technology was patented by Dr. Louis Gratzer, Chief of Aerodynamics at Boeing, in 1994.  The winglets reduce drag and provide extra lift.  They are also important fuel savers and help reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. 

Winglets were first introduced on the Boeing 737 line in 1998. The winglet is about 8 feet tall and about 4 feet wide at the base, narrowing to approximately two feet at the tip, adding almost 5 feet to the total wingspan.

Local 530 President Gordon Clark said: “The members of Local 530 rise to the occasion and I congratulate all our members and employees involved in this endeavor.”

Bob Reding, American‘s Executive Vice President for Operations added: “The fuel savings and emissions reductions that we will achieve are one more step in our efforts to both moderate costs and shrink the impact we have on our environment – two goals that go hand-in-hand.”

The company plans to modify all of its 767s at the Kansas City Base by 2011.  It has already completed winglet installation on its fleets of 124 Boeing 757s and 77 Boeing 737s.  Much of that word was done in Kansas City.