FUEL CONSUMPTION DATA TRACKING/COLLECTION AND AIRCRAFT/ROUTE OPTIMIZATION

An automated system tracks and records factors that affect fuel consumption. Configuration factors such as the actual engine(s) used in the airplane, weight, weight distribution, engine pressure, engine rotation speeds, etc.; environmental factors such as wind speed and direction, temperature, altitude and air pressure, etc.; and flight path factors such as actual route flown, distance flown, take-off/landing requirements for the airports, etc. are tracked and recorded. The resulting data is used to “normalize” the fuel efficiency of each airplane and engine. Normalized data for an airline's fleet of airplanes and engines are used to find optimal airplane/engine combinations for the routes serviced by the airline. The collected data itself can be sent from the aircraft during flight or, a notification message can be sent from the aircraft to the airline computer system to have the collected data downloaded from the airplane at the next landing.