Atlantic headwinds force "non-stop" flights to - stop, for fuel

[pattern_is_full]

Nonstop Flights Stop for Fuel - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203436904577152974098241982.html)

Probably not news for pilots flying the "pond" - but may be for pilots elsewhere.

With just 4% of flights affected, is this simply a rational roll of the economic dice?

[GarageYears]

Yeah, I just read the article - this refers to 757's treking the Atlantic - how come Continental 757s appear to be affected while Delta 757s did not have a single issue over the same time period/same routes?

Either someone is squeezing more fuel into their aircraft, or running them low on arrival... or is there some other rational explanation?

[BOAC]

Based on the WSJ's known inaccuracies in reporting aviation matters I suspect they have the wrong end of this aluminium stick. - OR United's Flight planning department is incompetent?(or both!)

[GarageYears]

See here then: Continental transatlantic flights run low on fuel | Business | The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/21/theairlineindustry.useconomy)

Seems this is not a new problem.

From today's Huffington Post : Transatlantic Flights Forced By Wind To Land For Fuel (http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/11/transatlantic-flights-wind-fuel-emergency-landing_n_1198904.html)

[Noxegon]

Depends on where they're going. I've seen a lot of transatlantics into DUB using 757s, but that's a shorter distance than continental europe.

[j_davey]

how come Continental 757s appear to be affected while Delta 757s did not have a single issue over the same time period/same routes?



one fleet might be significantly lighter than the other, eg: interior config, catering weight, IFE etc...
I have not flown on a DL 757 but have been on a few CO 757`s which have quite a nice interior with updated individual IFE units.

[LBIA]

I know one of the Jet2 xmas shopping flights to New York using the 757's from Leeds in December also had to make a stop in Bangor Maine to pick extra fuel due to strong Atlantic headwinds.

[Suzeman]

Depends on where they're going. I've seen a lot of transatlantics into DUB using 757s, but that's a shorter distance than continental europe.

In the Huffington article there are some clues.....

The Continental-served European cities involved include Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Stuttgart, and Barcelona. U.S. destinations involved were Washington's Dulles Airport and the airline's hub at Newark, N.J.

[racedo]

Better stopping and not needing that the other way round................

[BOAC]

Hmm - I don't think LBA-JFK will prove very much here:=

[Robert Campbell]

I just heard a piece on KCBS radio about UA/Continental flying 75?s on the North Atlantic and having to stop for fuel over 60 times westbound in the past month or two.

I called the radio station, and they said the story originated with the Wall St. Journal.

The reporter had it all wrong, as usual, about FARs etc. and the fact that the birds can always carry full fuel and payload. He was also wrong on international fuel reserve requirements.

Has anyone else heard anything about this?

[InitRef]

Here's the original WSJ story:
Nonstop Flights Stop for Fuel - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203436904577152974098241982.html?mod=WSJ_hp_ LEFTTopStories)