Originally Posted by
Cruz5350
If you check the contract fuel pricing we received not long ago you can tell that it's much cheaper to buy fuel in CLE than it is the outstations. The bulk purchasing and contract we have make it that way and I'm sure it would be the same in ATL or IAD. Fuel savings alone is to the tune of a few bucks a gallon heck one top off will more than pay for the crew hotel rooms. Plus it's much easier to have staffing coverage in one base rather than a reserve Captain and FO in each outstaion.
Yeah, for the entire time I've been up north, we've done top-offs in CLE (loads permitting), even though we burn more fuel by tankering more than we need on every leg. Since BFD is one of the most expensive places for fuel in the NE, we usually don't bother fueling here for the first flight of the day, since the fuel brought in the night before is typically enough to get us to JHW which is much cheaper.
In years past, when previous companies like Colgan did these routes to CLE, JHW was the crew base rather than BFD. Shorter runway, heated hangar and cheaper fuel. But the JHW chamber of commerce wanted to advertise more direct flights to CLE, so BFD has been the base since 3M started up here in 2008. Fuel is more expensive, and the hangar is unheated. We have to de-ice in the morning a lot since the ice accumulated coming in the night before doesn't melt.
Ah, the joys of Northern Ops.