Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
The joys of unintended consequences...
I asked someone who knows how low fuel MAYDAYS on calculated less than 30 minutes FFR work in first world aviation nations. That person’s response:
He's wrong.
Firstly, the vast majority of times, you arrive with fuel to an alternate, so if you are informed on arrival you will have to hold into FR fuel, you divert.
The rules for using your alternate fuel to reach destination in the event of unexpected delays enroute are such that you have to take possible traffic delays into account before doing so. If you then run into further unexpected delay, without alternate fuel, informing ATC that you can only hold till X time and will then be in an emergency will always get a reshuffle.
Look, I've actually been there, or very close. A two hour delay on departure put me into a peak arrival time which I hadn't allowed for- 100% my stuff up but there I was. The EAT I was given left me with about FR+15, so I gritted my teeth and didn't divert, landin with 1.5T over the 3.6 FR requirement.
Had I got further delayed my options would have been a quiet word with ATC, followed by a "minimum fueal call", then if all else failed a MAYDAY, which would have assured me priority. We used to average about three MAYDAUY MAYDAY MAYDAY FUEL calls as a company a year, and the result was priority, the jet on the ground, and a transparent review of the reasons behind, usually with a well done to the crew for correct application on of procedure.
You scoffed somewhat on the idea of several aircraft competing for a runway when you had little fuel.
At major hubs like Dubai, it happens on a regular basis, and we haven't run one dry yet.