New Fuel Initiative = Watch out
 

Read something about the company and the union cooperating on a new fuel initiative somewhere. Yesterday showed up at the jet (MD10) to fly PHX-MEM and see that i am to arrive with 19K with NQA as alt... This for me was a new "low" fuel level. I added 3K regardless of the weather which wasn't a factor. No problem. Four hours later, i am j/s back on the MEM-PHX MD10. They are given a release of 18K to land and IWA (Williams Apt) as an alternate. For those not familiar with it, it's the old Williams AFB and is about 20 or so miles SE of PHX. Never seen that before this week either. The weather fcast is great for PHX from the fedex boys although the local stations in PHX the nite before had been saying chance of afternoon tstorms. Long story short, massive dust / tstorm in PHX at arrival, we do one turn in holding and a little pleading with appch and we make it in just before 50kt gusts close the airport. Storm engulfs airport from E to W so IWA was no option. We landed with 16K. The second MD10 from MEM 20 minutes behind lands in TUS and is 3 hours late arriving PHX. If we had to go to TUS I imagine we would be declaring emergency fuel although i wasn't the Capt.
My point here is, be very careful accepting these new "fuel initiatives" and temper it with what seems to be some poor weather forecasting.

They're using Nellis in Vegas too....

By the way, this happened to a friend of mine: check the NQA notams closely. Especially on weekends. GOC will file it as an alternate when it is notamed closed.

Nice, another IQ test.:cool:

Every flight this week GOC had us landing with less than what is considered the standard at an alt. Had to add fuel on each leg every day. There is movement afoot to make us a Flag carrier that will reduce our fuel loads even more and will be legal. I dont understand all the rules for a flag carrier but a committee has already done the work and execution is in the works. We still have the last word before we sign the release. Be careful....

Its all a crap shoot. If you fly a flight plan using their numbers and nothing bad happens then FDX wins and with each flight profits goes a little higher. Woah to the guy that plans to arrive at Mem with 18K and NQA as your alternate and landing 18 with a 30 mile final. NiteFly84 is just another perfect example were IMO the company is out to lunch. Sure if I'm bringing jet in on a sunday morning and all is clear and there is no sort than maybe.

Had a LCA give me the party line because I added gas going into OSK on a clear day yet I had not been there in several months. Had to do a little holding and whala needed the gas.

Every captain does it a little different but I like to look at the FAT and subtract 5000 pounds for a go-around. Then take that number and subtract your alternate fuel to see what you'll have on the deck at your alternate. Lots of times it works out to something near 10K at NQA. Is that really what you want to do?

It's simple mathmathitics coupled with 35 years of experience. Let me fly the jet,,,,, and management can worry about wheather my shoes are shined or not..................:cool:

I have to admit, the Fedex weather people and their format is a joke. When I first got to Fedex and read a forecast and it said abv 2000/3 I said WTF? How about a little more Info......

Oh well, your going anyway right. Might as well have less info with less fuel now.

Of course 121 flag had the 1,2,3 method to see if you needed an alternate, but the dispatchers ass was on the line also, so they were a little more generous during NAR ops. I don't care what you say...our GOC specialists don't know enough to give a rats ass about your flight. We are like a 135 operation......self dispatched. Treat it like that and you can't go wrong.

Fedex is trying to use NAR ops (NQA,ect...) under their 121 sup rules......well, too bad. Can't have it both ways.

I did enough NAR when I was young. That's how I got all my grey hair.

Had unforecast fog in FAY one night in a Brakilia. You could see the runway lights, but at ~30' on final we went zero/zero. I made the flare and touchdown on instruments - because I had to. I didn't have more than 30 minutes of gas aboard. And this was with people in back! Yeah, I ain't real interested in going back to those days.

I used to fuel jets back in the day, my rule of thumb was to be somewhere between the dispatched fuel load and 400 lbs. over; sometimes I'd ask the crew if they wanted more, when they did, I'd simply give em' what they wanted, or close to it. Most guys were cool with it, even had a couple say the only time too much gas is a problem is when the plane's on fire :D The way I see it, I was there to do my part to make the flight as safe as possible, if they wanted more, they got it . . .

Sounds like AIR OPS on the ship planning for a divert.

Good gouge! Other than rumor control, these techniques, wags, etc... are some of the reasons why I like this forum.

I recently came back to the planet from FRA and we had planned on the FPR 20K with the Non Qualified Alternate and El Capitan didn't want to put any more gas on. Yes, I know with TFM you'll make gas on a long flight like that but I still don't like landing with FAT <25K. It's just me and my fighter background -- I always watch the gas.