Originally Posted by
Down3Green
You can't dispatch a flight that is planned to arrive at destination over it's Max Landing Weight. Doesn't matter what kind of range the jet has or how much fuel it can carry.. On a day like yesterday with widespread low ceilings and visibility you are likely going to have to select an alernate that is a significant distance from BOS. In fact, they likely had 2 alternates on the flight plan. When dispatched, the flight has to arrive at its destination with sufficient fuel to fly to the furthest alternate while still being under max landing weight.
Fair enough, but that must be a hell of a diversion. MZFW versus MLW on an A319 allows for 4 tons of fuel which is enough to fly ~500 mi (admittedly they would need reserve on top of that) - but still, that would be hell of a diversion (and an odd one given the density of airports in the NE).