Originally Posted by
star_world
The other factor was the introduction of some unfamiliar segments (flights to IAD) which, in addition to being slightly longer were relatively immature in terms of UA's ability to forecast loads and exact aircraft performance.
Neither of those factors seem to exist to any meaningful degree this winter, so the planned fuel stop rate seems to be much closer to what it was 2+ years ago - i.e. effectively a non-issue.
Yes, the winds this year aren't as bad as they were last year, but they replaced the 757 they used last year on the IAD-CDG route with a 763, and surprise, surprise, the problem went away.