Originally Posted by
star_world
There are probably close to a hundred posts in the thread last year from meteorologists and other interested observers commenting on the highly unusual transatlantic wind and weather patterns last year - it was considered a once-per-decade or even less frequent event. As a result there were some longer than usual segments that resulted in a higher than normal rate of fuel stops, mainly because it wasn't forecasted early enough to be able to manage passenger and cargo loads accordingly.
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.
interesting spin. The IAD-CDG-IAD route is the one that made up the vast majority of the flights in issue - It went from 777 to a 757 in a move you personally championed loudly for whatever reason.
When that turned out to be the complete disaster we all said it would be, and in light of an expose in the WSJ, the company quickly moved to replace that incompatible equipment with a proper wide body aircraft.
The winter winds being at "10 year highs" is spin from the company itself and nobody else. No surprise then that you state it as fact.