What is the preferred way to slow down an airliner on a long runway? EDIT: Another way to phrase the question is, given an extra long runway, does it make sense to substitute mechanical braking (which is the primary way to slow down in a typical situation) partially or completely with something else, to reduce brake wear / roll down the runway faster?



Consider an airliner landing on a very long runway (e.g. Boeing 737 landing on 12,000 feet+). The pilots are planning to vacate the runway near the end, so there is a lot of distance to spare.

Ignore noise procedures, and assume there is no traffic behind to suggest an early exit. What would be the preferred way to slow down the aircraft in this scenario?


Light application of reverse thrust only, no brakes?
Light application of brakes only, no reverse thrust?
Moderate braking until below a certain speed (e.g. 80 knots), then "coast" the airplane down the runway?


(This question addresses the primary means to slow down after a typical landing, while this question is about an idealistic case where there is plenty of braking capacity to spare.)
There are several ways to slow down an airliner:


aerodynamic drag
friction in the wheel bearings
reverse thrust
wheel brakes


and a few even used a brake chute, but that went out of fashion a long time ago. If the runway is inclined, landing uphill also will slow down the aircraft.

Friction and drag you get for free, so I would rely on those first. Since they are highest when the speed is high, use them first until the aircraft is so far down the runway that it would overshoot without additional application of wheel brakes. Use spoilers and leave the flaps down to maximise the deceleration. Only at the end add wheel brakes so you have slowed down to taxi speed when the exit of the runway is reached.

So the best answer is none of the above but:


Coast along with flaps and spoilers out until you need to brake more to avoid an overshoot. Then apply wheel brakes.


The exact way how brakes should be applied depends on their type.