Airline pilots say they are flying with low fuel

[Wagontour08]

isn't that only Ryanair which has been forced to force it's pilot to fly with 5% extra fuel

[cambo61]

As long as people continue to pay 50% less for a ticket (inflation adjusted) than they did 30 years ago, airlines will try other means to slash costs.

In the meantime service will continue to suck, planes will break more frequently, and you'll arrive late.

Airlines are not "public transportaion". There was a time when people dressed up to fly. Now people bring garbage bags for carry-on luggage.

Deregulation is to blame for this.

[rrussell39]

@cambo61 Yes, they are public transportation. The reason people don't dress up is because hardly anybody does now, even for church. It is disrespectful. Remember Ozzie and Harriett when she would get up and get dressed up like June Cleaver with pearl necklace and men always wore suits even at home? It is just a different time.

[cambo61]

The information posted here is true. Even before the surge in fuel prices some airlines were using aggressive stratagies to conserve fuel.

I've found that my company flight planning software is dead-nuts on. A typical flight will have less than 5% variation between the predicted fuel burn and actual fuel burn. If a discrepency occurs we report it for future modification.

I've never landed inside of my reserve fuel and that includs hundreds of flights into ORD and ATL.