USA TODAY US Edition

At ‘captain-only’ airports, experience is a necessity

- John Cox John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways.

Question: In a recent answer to a question, you mentioned landing at a “captain-only” airport. What is that? – Robert, Long Island, New York Answer: Some airports are very challengin­g in terms of terrain, runway length or airspace, and an operator may require that only the captain make the takeoff and landing. This ensures that the most experience­d pilot flies into and out of such an airport. An example would be Aspen, Colorado, where the terrain and runway length make for a challengin­g approach. The designatio­n of a captain-only airport varies from operator to operator. Some operators have Washington’s Reagan National Airport as captain-only (because of its complex approach); others do not.

Other examples are: Key West, Florida (because of runway length); Eagle, Colorado (terrain and runway length); Tegucigalp­a, Honduras (terrain and runway length).

Q: Airports such as Eagle/Vail and St. Thomas are served regularly by 757s. Why don’t airlines fly the comparable A321s to these destinatio­ns, and will this be something they do once the 757 is retired? Also, American Airlines seems to fly only the post-merger A319s (with sharklets) to Eagle/Vail. Is there a reason they don’t fly the older A319s there? – Jonah, Birmingham, Michigan

A: Eagle is a special airport. It is at a high elevation and has mountains nearby. This requires high performanc­e from aircraft operating in and out of the airport. The B757 was one of the highestper­forming airliners ever flown; it excelled in these conditions. Airplanes such as the A321 or the B737-900 do not have this level of performanc­e.

Using airplanes with winglets or sharklets increases performanc­e.

Q: What is the purpose of winglets? – Ruben Treko, Providence, Rhode Island

A: They improve the fuel efficiency of the airplane by reducing the drag produced by the vortex created at the wing tip.

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