Is the cost index for a flight (e.g., KLAX to KDFW on an AAL B738) assigned by dispatch after taking a look at the load, the weather, the routing, etc., or is it a company standard number for a particular route?
For what purpose?
For what purpose? Well, if a pilot is going to use 50 (or 10, or 100, or whatever), where did that number come from? I know what it does, I want to know if it comes from dispatch or somewhere else. I’m pretty sure it does NOT come from the flight crew.
Does anybody know?
You weren’t clear you were talking about the number used by pilots in the FMC for flight planning.
This indicates that it’s pretty much standard fleetwide: forum.avsim.net/topic/336375-cos … -database/
There’s another different type of cost index used by airline management.
Thanks for the link–very interesting. That (more than) answers my question.