Letter: Nonstop flights are safer
A file photo of JetBlue aircraft at JFK airport. (Feb. 20, 2007) Credit: AP
After reading "LI is ready for international takeoff" [Opinion, July 11], I have to agree.
Long Island, with 2.83 million residents and thousands of business enterprises, needs and should have an international carrier. This addition would alleviate delays at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports and at the same time bring landing fees to Long Island.
As a retired aircraft design engineer, I am appalled that the airline industry has created hub operations that produce a greater number of flights that are long-range but subject to stops midway.
Short flights are the most damaging to an airframe and engines. The airframe is subjected to that many more flexures (expansion and contraction of metal) from exposure to dramatic temperature changes. This is a result of going from surface temperatures to flight altitudes.
Also, the engines are required to be near full thrust for takeoffs that many more times, accelerating wear and tear. The amount of fuel used to lift that tonnage that many more times is astronomical. The greater the thrust, the more fuel burned.
Finally, the most dangerous periods of flight are takeoffs and landings. Personally, I will only fly nonstop wherever I travel.
Arne Johnson, Levittown
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
