Why do pilots Taxi with one engine?

Welcome to today’s blog......

Let’s talk about why pilots use only one engine to taxi the plane? A lot of research is being done suppose one engine fails during the way will the pilot be able to land the flight safely. The answer is yes safe landing can be done using one main engine and the small engine on the tail can help in powering up the flight and to maintain the airflow.

The following are the reasons why the pilot uses only one engine for a taxi:

1. Fuel Saving: For instance, Boeing 737 or Airbus 330 burns 300kg/hr so making one engine idle saves a lot of fuel. Let’s consider normal taxi time as 15-20 minutes which means you approximately save 75kg of fuel with making one engine idle. Through this airlines can boost their profit and will not force pilots to do flap landings. 

2. Noise factor: This varies from 40-130 dB so they prefer to taxi with engine off. 

3. Engine wear: Several studies/research explains there is a lot of engine damage during taxi due to gravels on the runway and the parking gate. In Aviation terms, it is known as Foreign Object Damage.

Thanks for reading it.......