Environmental Leader

Virgin Atlantic has canceled plans to tow Boeing 747s at the end of runways – which the airline pitched as a way to save up to two tonnes of CO2 per flight – after it was found that pulling the landing gear weakens the plane, Times Online reports.

Virgin chief Richard Branson had persuaded California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to endorse the plan. When Virgin made the announcement in December 2006, it suggested that many of its aircraft would be involved and that airports around the world would embrace the idea, according to the article.

Advertisers