Question about weight and fuel burn information

Hi all! I hope you guys are doing great :slight_smile:

After surfing the Internet, I might realize that no airlines provide takeoff weight (measured) and total fuel burn data. In order to validate some simulation cases in my research, I have really wanted to obtain the information through open source data. Does anyone know how to get the data by any chance?

cf. I’m currently trying to simulate LAX to ATL flight with Southwest airline; however, I don’t care about airlines, aircraft, and flight trajectories.

As those figures will vary on a per flight basis, I suggest that the only source would be the airline itself.

The Boeing 737 NG typically burns 5000 pounds per hour (2500 pounds per engine). This varies plus or minus based on aircraft weight and altitude selection. During the flight aircraft weight decreases and therefore fuel burn decreases. You could anticipate approximately 100 lbs/hour decrease in total burn for each hour flown. The 737 typically cruises at .79 Mach, roughly 450 knots. Your climb fuel and descent fuel roughly cancel each other out.

Route distance on a typical LAX to ATL leg is 1842 nm. So you are looking at a flight of a little over 4 hours. The burn would be roughly 20,000 lbs with zero wind.

Are you looking for the actual burn on a LAX ATL flight to compare to your calculations?

Thank you so much for letting me know the valuable information!

Thank you so much for the detailed information! Yes, I am currently looking for the actual burn on the flight as well as the actual takeoff weight. Do you have an idea by any chance?

Sillykim,

I found this post that you might find helpful… no specific burn information though.

The Boeing 737 is usually limited by it’s maximum landing weight. So the landing weight in Atlanta would be near the Max landing weight of the aircraft, especially if there is an alternate airport. You can therefore approximate the takeoff weight by adding the burn (19,000 to 21,000 lbs depending on wind and other variables). So in the case of a Boeing 737-700, (from the link above) maximum landing weight is 128,000 lbs. If you then add the enroute burn to this number, you get an approximate 148,000 lbs takeoff weight.

Please forgive me if you already knew these things. Hopefully this will be enough information for your simulation.

The post you shared was really helpful to me! I really appreciated it. Also, thank you so much for sharing your idea to estimate the takeoff weight. I am not 100% sure but it feels like that I may be able to start off the analysis. Thanks again!