Overloaded Easyjet flight bargains with 'volunteers'

[fender]

Oakydokes post is reasonably accurate, and covers suitably the primary reasons that will have been addressed, there are other factors that come into play regarding the specific aircraft, engine power for example. Some sectors are flown as 'tanking' sectors depending on fuel costs, ie the aircraft will take extra fuel as its cheaper to fuel at a specific location, a tanking sector can have an impact on the available load to be carried.

 

Offload of pax or bags/cargo is a standard procedure. In extremis if there aren't sufficient volunteers the flight can be cancelled, and the aircraft subsequently positioned empty to the destination.

 

En route diversions to pick up fuel aren't an option as the costs associated with it are too expensive, and can have other implications regarding the operation of the aircraft and crew utilisation. easyJet/Ryanair don't operate hub and spoke systems, they are point to point carriers. The adoption of 737/A320 family types wasn't due to deregulation, it was due to fuel economy after the US fuel crisis in the 70's, the high by pass ratio jets were developed which gave fuel economy and noise improvements. In Europe there's rarely any straight line navigation available, and air space is at a premium so planned flight levels may not be available impacting on fuel burn significantly.

 

this is only partly true. tech stops do happen. while expensive it will be cheaper than cancelling the flight and the negative press associated with that. tech stops happen for fuel reasons and also for reasons of crew running out of hours. some routes stretch the capability of the aircraft fuel capacity (with large passenger loads), as well as crew hours. strong winds on a long flight can cause a return flight to bust crew flight time limitations. if the route is generally profitable enough then an airline may accept that occasionally a tech stop will be necessary, either for fuel or crew hour reasons.

 

another way to look at it is diversions. it would normally be possible for an aircraft to load so much fuel that should it be necessary it could hold for literally hours at every destination, waiting for an opportunity to land. however, that would be very expensive in the extra fuel burn for carrying that extra fuel, so airlines accept that occasionally their aircraft will not have much, if any, extra fuel to cater for out-of-the-blue events and will have to divert, which is essentially an unplanned tech stop (assuming it later departs again for the original destination).

[PMP]

 

Many flights operated on short haul and European flights will easily be within weight limits and will be able to return and land straight away, as they'll be under the max landing weight on take off. or shortly afterwards.

 

 

The once fairly common ferrying, or "tanking" of fuel is less frequently carried out these days due to the costs involved outweighing the advantages.

Many airlines will nowadays almost never do it, except where commercial or operational necessity prevails.

 

 

 

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Returning and landing straight away is an option but even in Europe/short haul there are factors that may preclude that. Which is why they use departure alternates. There is no guarantee that you can return to point of departure.

 

The second point regarding airlines not tanking is pure fantasy. Airlines still do it, it is a standard procedure and regularly used for a variety of reasons. It is only done for commercial or operational reasons, there are no other reasons.

 

Regarding 'tech stops' they do occur, however they are factored into the route build costings, so that if the airline needs to make a refueling stop the costs associated with it are amortized over the duration of the route/season.

A diversion en-route is far more expensive and disruptive than a tech stop, they are two different things but could appear identical to the lay person/enthusiast. Not all diverts continue to the original destination either, circumstances may require the cancellation of the flight at the divert location, and cancellation of the return leg (if there was one) from the original destination.