NEW YORK – Drivers know that slowing down means getting more miles to the gallon. Now airlines are trying it, too – adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on fuel.   Southwest Airlines started flying slower about two months ago and projects it will save $42 million in fuel this year by extending each flight by one to three minutes.   On one Northwest Airlines flight from Paris to Minneapolis this week alone, flying slower saved 162 gallons of fuel, saving the airline $535. It added eight minutes to the flight, extending it to eight hours, 58 minutes.   That meant flying at an average speed of 532 mph, down from the usual 542 mph.   “It’s not a dramatic change,” said Dave Fuller, director of flight operations at Jet-Blue, which began flying slower two years ago.   The savings add up, however. JetBlue adds an average of just under two minutes to each flight and saves about $13.6 million a year in jet fuel. Adding just four minutes to its flights to and from Hawaii saves Northwest Airlines $600,000 a year on those flights alone.   United Airlines has invested in flightplanning software that helps pilots choose the best routes and speeds. In some cases, that means planes fly at lower speeds. United estimates the software will save it $20 million a year.   “What we’re doing is flying at a more consistent speed to save fuel,” said Megan McCarthy, a United spokeswoman.   Fliers, beleaguered by higher fares, delays and security lines, may not notice. The extra flight time is added to published flight schedules or absorbed into the extra time built into schedules for taxiing and traffic delays.   “If saving fuel costs me a few extra minutes out of my day, then … my inconvenience is nothing,” said Leah Nichols, a TV producer who lives in San Francisco and was fresh off a flight at Newark Liberty International Airport, waiting for a train to New York.”I’m cool with that.”   Not every airline is taking the slowdown approach.   “We have the flying schedule to protect,” said John Hotard, an American Airlines spokesman.   He said the carrier does other things to save fuel – for instance, installing small vertical stabilizers called winglets to the ends of some aircraft wings, which boosts fuel efficiency by improving aerodynamics.   American also tries to keep its planes plugged into ground-based power and air conditioning for as long as possible to conserve fuel, and pushes air traffic controllers to assign its flights to altitudes where they won’t have to fight headwinds or tailwinds as much.Other airlines have adopted similar measures.

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