Winglets

Alaska Airlines has been ordering their new 737-800s with Winglets. They are also putting them on a number of older aircraft as those planes go in for routing maintenance. They cost less than a million dollars to install.

These 8 foot tall wing tips reduce fuel consumption by up to 5%, reduce emissions, decrease the noise a plane makes, increase payload capacity, and improve climbing performance. The immediate impacts are small, but over several years of flying, they significantly improve the bottom line for the airlines.

On top of the performance improvements, though, the size and elegant curve they have makes them a beautiful example of industrial design. They just make the aircraft look better.








More information about Winglets is available here and from Boeing.