According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, Continental Airlines pilots reported their aircrafts running low on fuel nearly 100 times in 2007 during approaches to New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, sparking concerns from air traffic controllers, federal regulators and its pilots.
By declaring a fuel emergency on board, a pilot alerts air traffic controllers that the aircraft must, without delay, in reaching the airport for landing. Although fuel emergencies pose no direct safety threat to passengers, they certainly create a burden on the already overloaded air traffic system and a distraction for the air traffic controllers in a busy sector.
FAA regulations require an aircraft on landing to have enough fuel for another 45 minutes of flight in case of bad weather or other unforeseeable emergencies at its destination. In the event of fuel emergencies, air traffic controllers are required to file reports for all occurrences.
US Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General (OIG) disclosed the number of fuel emergencies at Newark increased from 48 in 2006 to 134 in 2007, an increase of 180%. For the same period, OIG found no similar increases occurred at the nearby LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport. The OIS statistics also shows, of the 151 fuel emergencies at Newark in 2007, 66% occurred on international flights, and 64% were issued by Continental Airlines flights. According to OIG, Continental 757 flights from Barcelona to Newark declared fuel emergencies 23 times in 2007, the highest number of any flight reviewed.
With fuel prices skyrocketing, Continental Airlines' strategy is to use the smaller single-isle Boeing 757s with smaller fuel capacity on certain trans-Atlantic routes, e.g. Berlin (3,980 miles).
On Boeing's web site, its 757 advertisement starts as followed, "The Boeing 757 is a twin-engine short-to-medium-range jetliner incorporating advanced technology ...". The direct distance between Barcelona and Newark is 3,848 miles and the flight time is approximately 7.5 hours. It certainly does not appear to be a short flight to me. Is it a long-haul flight? It is hard to say. In comparison, the non-stop Newark-Singapore flight takes 18 hours to reach its destination.
In my view, this certainly is not exactly the trips that Boeing had in mind when they designed and built the Boeing 757. Even if the twin-engine aircraft can make it to the destination in these over-water flights, Boeing 757's small size certainly does not leave a lot of room for passenger comfort and safety.
Not too long ago, FAA restricted twin-engine passenger aircrafts from flying the Atlantic routes. Concerned as it is about airline economics, and with the increased reliability of the jet turbine engines, FAA lifted the ban after aircraft manufacturers and airlines proved to FAA that twin-engine aircrafts could fly nonstop safely over the Atlantic Ocean.
There is another aspect to the whole story. As jet fuel approaching $115 a barrel, airlines' operating efficiency is pretty much depending on the payload an aircraft carries. Carrying excessive jet fuel in an aircraft is not cost effective and can only hurt an airline's bottom line. By cutting back on the reserve cushion of fuel needed for unexpected delays, the airplanes become lighter and lighter planes burn less fuel which can save thousands per flight. To such an extent, airline management always reminds their pilots to use sound judgement on how much fuel they decide to carry on each flight. According to reports, Continental ties the extra fuel pilots carry in flights to their retirement or pension sharing.
Given all these restraints, I feel the Continental pilots are just doing their job to help the Company to improve its bottom line. Meanwhile, the federal auditors have determined that all aircrafts in question had landed with the required FAA minimum fuel levels onboard.
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