UPS
 Home | Contact Us | UPS Web Sites
UPS Sustainability UPS Sustainability
UPS and the Community  | UPS Investor Relations  | UPS.com 
Overview Economic Social Environmental The Future Archives

Air Fleet

PlaneUPS Airlines strives to reduce its impact on the environment by operating efficient aircraft and aggressively managing our aircraft operations. We support the development of economically responsible solutions that reduce the effect of air operations on the environment. These solutions include not only equipment design and configuration, but aircraft operating procedures and technology.

We operate the eighth largest airline in the world, and we continue to lead the industry in deploying noise and emission reduction technologies. Our strategy for purchasing aircraft focuses on managing operational costs and ensuring landing rights around the world by flying a quiet, fuel-efficient and low-emission fleet.

Compliance with ICAO’s Noise and Emission Regulations

UPS’s fleet of aircraft meets and exceeds the noise and emission reduction regulations established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). We have consistently pursued a “beyond compliance” strategy to ensure a quiet and highly fuel efficient air fleet. Instead of installing hush kits on our engines, in the mid-1990s UPS took a long-term, sustainable approach and replaced 100 percent of the engines in our 727-100 and DC-8 jet freighter fleet.

Percent of Total UPS Air Fleet Meeting ICAO Stage IV Noise Guidelines

2007 Goal:

Increase the number of UPS aircraft that are stage IV compliant to 97 percent.

All new UPS aircraft must meet ICAO’s Stage IV noise guidelines, which call for a 10 decibel reduction over Stage III. UPS is voluntarily applying this standard to its entire fleet — all UPS aircraft will meet Stage IV guidelines.

UPS buys aircraft that are highly efficient and environmentally friendly. The following graph describes the characteristics of each type of aircraft we purchase.

UPS Aircraft Noise Characteristics as Compared to ICAO Stage 3 and Stage 4 Guidelines

Aircraft Emissions

Our aircraft engineers developed a measurement that links the amount of emissions produced by our aircraft with the number of packages the fleet can carry.

Global – Aircraft Emissions per Payload Capacity

2007 Goal:

Improve aircraft emissions per payload capacity to 0.77

In 2006, UPS had 0.81 kilograms of aircraft emissions per 1,000 kilograms of payload capacity — an improvement of 6 percent over 2005.

The positive trend reflects the increasing role that modern, efficient aircraft play in our airline operations.

Reducing Fuel Use Throughout the UPS Airlines

UPS Airlines has a designated fuel conservation manager who continually monitors fuel use throughout the airline. As a result, UPS is:

  • reducing the amount of extra fuel carried by aircraft;
  • using only one engine during taxiing on twin-engine aircraft and limiting the number of engines used during taxiing on aircraft with three or four engines;
  • having more UPS airplanes use electrical power from buildings and in-ground electrical hook-ups instead of the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit, which is powered by fuel; and
  • slowing down flights to the most fuel efficient speed possible if it doesn’t change an arrival time critical to making service commitments.

Ongoing Initiatives

  • In 2006, UPS retired five older aircraft, including one 747-100, three 727-100s and one DC-8-71. These were replaced with 11 new highly-efficient aircraft, including six A300-600s and five MD-11s.
  • During 2006, UPS continued to work with the FAA to gain approval to use Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) when landing at airports. Using CDA, aircraft glide down, rather than stepping down altitudes. This reduces noise, burns less fuel and creates fewer emissions.
  • UPS Airlines continues to use a unique flight planning system, which calculates the most efficient route between two points, based on weather, winds, terrain and other factors.
  • In coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, UPS is testing Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B) technology on all 107 of our 757 and 767 aircraft. Among other things, this technology allows UPS to proactively manage aircraft departure queues, which reduces fuel use and emissions. UPS is the world’s only fleet equipped with this advanced technology.

Back to Top Back to Top

Home | Overview | Economic | Social | Environmental | The Future | Archives
Contact Us | UPS Web Sites | Site Guide | UPS Global | UPS Corporate

Copyright © 1994-2007 United Parcel Service of America, Inc.  All rights reserved.
Web Site Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Trademarks | UPS Code of Business Conduct