But in reality, the plane is just a regular "747 with about 300 passengers" -- not the first of its kind at SFO, if you want to get technical. According to P-I Aerospace reporter James Wallace, what makes this flight green is that the engines will idle while hovering about SFO.

Other than getting off the ground without a lot of waiting because their plane has been given a priority takeoff, passengers may not notice much of a difference between this flight and any other until the big jet is about 90 minutes out from the City by the Bay. Then, rather than the usual "step-down" landing approach that starts much closer to an airport, the Boeing 747-400 will make a smooth, constant descent from well out over the Pacific. Few if any throttle adjustments will be needed as the onboard computers fly the plane to a landing. The engines, in fact, will be nearly idle during the entire descent.

What with fuel prices being sky-high, it makes sense. Let's just hope these new procedures go well. While it's scary to think about planes descending continuously upon landing, the fancy new iGPS, computers, and collision avoidance system stuff these days should ease any worries.

Hopefully.