<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by AARay:
This is correct. The weight saved is a little more than that quoted on a narrow body with the traditional full-coverage paint scheme of most airlines. For every 100 lbs of weight saved approximately 7-10 lbs per hour of fuel burn is saved. The AA fleet is about 750 aircraft each used an average of 6-9 hours per day so the savings adds up to significant numbers. The upkeep happens during heavy maintenance checks when the skin is polished, which does take more time than just washing the aircraft but does not impact the return to service time significantly.</font>
Just to help put this in perspective a gallon of Jet Fuel weighs ~6.7 Lbs per gallon. At 1 - 1.5 Gallons per flight & $1.30 per gallon that's almost enough to put the half & half back on board for the coffee in first class!!