The Upper Deck

colerandle:

Big headwinds are forcing westbound transatlantic 757s to make unscheduled fuel stops.

Via Autopia: High Winds Forcing Pitstops On Transatlantic Flights

As I found flying from CDG to IAD on a UA757 last month:

To avoid flying with too many empty seats, cash-strapped airlines are now relying on narrow-body aircraft on routes that would not fill up a larger plane.

Though out of production for several years, the 757 has a range of more than 4,500 miles, and is cheap enough to operate that carriers can justify routes that wouldn’t fill the larger 767 or Airbus A330.

The problem? While the 757’s range is admirable for narrowbody medium-haul aircraft, colossal La Nina headwinds facing westbound flights are pushing a significant percentage of flights beyond IFR fuel minimums.

Such flights are forced to divert for fuel - United’s stop of choice is CYYR: Goose Bay, Canada - a Canadian Air Force Base with regional commercial traffic.

Per the WSJ: Nonstop Flights Stop for Fuel

[In December 2011], United said, its 169-seat 757s had to stop 43 times to refuel out of nearly 1,100 flights headed to the U.S. A year earlier, there were only 12 unscheduled stops on roughly the same volume of 757 flights.

In further coverage, the WSJ notes that the FAA approved engineering for installation of auxiliary fuel tanks into the cargo bays of most B75s. Though the investment in such a mod seems unlikely:

Gordon Bethune, a former Boeing executive who went on to become Continental’s chief executive and retired in 2004, said Wednesday that the airline talked to Boeing about installing extra fuel tanks in the bellies of the aircraft.

“But you give up a lot of luggage space and it’s not economical,” he said. “And it’s fairly complicated.”

Until operators using the 757 on max-range routes make modifications, change aircraft, or the winds die, be wary when booking flights with close connections to westbound transatlantic flights.