Ditching SkyMall catalogues will save American Airlines $350,000 in fuel

SkyMall's bankruptcy isn't just putting the kibosh on your in-flight perusal of the latest high heel-shaped wine racks and pierogi-shaped Christmas ornaments — it's saving airlines some big bucks.

Wired did some back-of-the-envelope calculations on the fuel savings removing 150 catalogs from each of American Airlines' fleet of planes. Based on a typical weight of 4 ounces per magazine, each aircraft will weigh about 37.5 pounds less than it does now. Of course, a lighter plane requires less fuel to fly — about 223,000 gallons less per year for American Airlines alone, Wired estimates. At $1.58 per gallon for jet fuel, that's more than $352,000 in savings.

Now imagine how much airlines could save if every passenger lost just a single pound...

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