Fuel stop on short flight (due to poor ops/planning):Are we entitled to compensation?
Jan 17, 2023, 4:48 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 284
Fuel stop on short flight (due to poor ops/planning):Are we entitled to compensation?
We flew #1540 from Kansas City to New York (Lga) yesterday and had to make an unexpected and annoying fuel stop in Islip. The stated reason was that due to congestion and the number of planes in front of us, that we didn’t have enough fuel to circle.
Are you kidding me? How does a 737 run out of fuel on an 1,100 mile flight? Who could have anticipated congestion flying into New York?
The weather was fine and the faa website said Lga operations were normal “with delays of under 15 minutes”. Our flight was originally scheduled to land at 745 pm and eventually arrived at 910, so it wasn’t the worst delay in terms of time. But it was frustrating and very disruptive for a school night.
How is Southwest about giving compensation in these situations?
Are you kidding me? How does a 737 run out of fuel on an 1,100 mile flight? Who could have anticipated congestion flying into New York?
The weather was fine and the faa website said Lga operations were normal “with delays of under 15 minutes”. Our flight was originally scheduled to land at 745 pm and eventually arrived at 910, so it wasn’t the worst delay in terms of time. But it was frustrating and very disruptive for a school night.
How is Southwest about giving compensation in these situations?
Jan 17, 2023, 4:56 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: USA
Programs: AC SE100K, F9 100k, NK Gold, UA *S, Hyatt Glob, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 5,197
Hope you thanked the flight deck.crew on your way out.
Next time fly an airline that enjoys risking flying in engine flameout conditions.
Jan 17, 2023, 5:51 am
#3
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: PIT, BWI, or IPT
Programs: Dividend Miles, WorldPerks
Posts: 1,302
Flying into NYC in the evening and only having a 1.5 hour delay sounds like a win to me! I can assure you that the cost from the diversion to WN is enough punishment for them.
Last edited by pgh234; Jan 17, 2023 at 9:30 am
Jan 17, 2023, 7:16 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,462
You also don't know everything that occurred. Perhaps ATC forced them to fly at an unexpected level with a much greater than expected head wind.
This diversion also cost Southwest money. They certainly do not purposely under fuel planes.
This diversion also cost Southwest money. They certainly do not purposely under fuel planes.
Jan 17, 2023, 8:11 am
#7
Join Date: May 2012
Location: DCA, lived MCI, SEA/PDX,BUF (born/raised)
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We flew #1540 from Kansas City to New York (Lga) yesterday and had to make an unexpected and annoying fuel stop in Islip. The stated reason was that due to congestion and the number of planes in front of us, that we didn’t have enough fuel to circle.
Are you kidding me? How does a 737 run out of fuel on an 1,100 mile flight? Who could have anticipated congestion flying into New York?
The weather was fine and the faa website said Lga operations were normal “with delays of under 15 minutes”. Our flight was originally scheduled to land at 745 pm and eventually arrived at 910, so it wasn’t the worst delay in terms of time. But it was frustrating and very disruptive for a school night.
How is Southwest about giving compensation in these situations?
Are you kidding me? How does a 737 run out of fuel on an 1,100 mile flight? Who could have anticipated congestion flying into New York?
The weather was fine and the faa website said Lga operations were normal “with delays of under 15 minutes”. Our flight was originally scheduled to land at 745 pm and eventually arrived at 910, so it wasn’t the worst delay in terms of time. But it was frustrating and very disruptive for a school night.
How is Southwest about giving compensation in these situations?
Nyc is a busy airspace.
they had the standard fuel amount for the load and distance when they took off snd their destination. LGA has shorter runways. Excess Fuel adds weight and stopping distance on landing.
I believe there is an extra tropical storm out in the Atlantic which also stirred up much stronger head winds when circling. Strong headwinds also eats fuel use.
LGA is also very busy with slot priorities. I don’t know how much thus played into it without knowing how early/ late the flight or other flights were when entering LGA ATZc
Jan 17, 2023, 8:48 am
#8
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,512
Why ATC couldn't slot them back into the traffic flow is well above our pay grade.
Fuel - Diversion to Weather Alternate
Fuel - Diversion to Weather Alternate
Jan 17, 2023, 10:20 am
#10
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: Delta Platinum Medallion, Hyatt Explorist, Wyndham Diamond
Posts: 313
We flew #1540 from Kansas City to New York (Lga) yesterday and had to make an unexpected and annoying fuel stop in Islip. The stated reason was that due to congestion and the number of planes in front of us, that we didn’t have enough fuel to circle.
Are you kidding me? How does a 737 run out of fuel on an 1,100 mile flight? Who could have anticipated congestion flying into New York?
The weather was fine and the faa website said Lga operations were normal “with delays of under 15 minutes”. Our flight was originally scheduled to land at 745 pm and eventually arrived at 910, so it wasn’t the worst delay in terms of time. But it was frustrating and very disruptive for a school night.
How is Southwest about giving compensation in these situations?
Are you kidding me? How does a 737 run out of fuel on an 1,100 mile flight? Who could have anticipated congestion flying into New York?
The weather was fine and the faa website said Lga operations were normal “with delays of under 15 minutes”. Our flight was originally scheduled to land at 745 pm and eventually arrived at 910, so it wasn’t the worst delay in terms of time. But it was frustrating and very disruptive for a school night.
How is Southwest about giving compensation in these situations?
If an unplanned fuel stop makes you that annoyed, maybe you should try driving next time. Just because the weather around LGA is fine, it doesn't mean the weather around the flight path is fine. There may have been no congestion when you departed but weather could have played a part after departure, creating congestion for other flights. No compensation will even be considered on Southwest's part.
Jan 17, 2023, 3:02 pm
#12
Join Date: May 2012
Location: DCA, lived MCI, SEA/PDX,BUF (born/raised)
Programs: Marriott (Silver/Gold), IHG, Carlson, Best Western, Choice( Gold), AS (MVP), WN, UA
Posts: 8,737
Why ATC couldn't slot them back into the traffic flow is well above our pay grade.
Fuel - Diversion to Weather Alternate
Fuel - Diversion to Weather Alternate
This is from today. Yesterday it was more interesting with this thing of the coast that might get classified as a sub- tropical storm that also produced winds.
Jan 17, 2023, 5:14 pm
#14
Join Date: Oct 2001
Programs: LTP, PP
Posts: 8,700
I'm actually shocked how quick the routing was ISP-LGA. Something to be grateful for. It could have been a bus.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...147Z/KISP/KLGA
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...147Z/KISP/KLGA