What's The Big Deal? Just Pull Over & Turn On The Flashers

Another byproduct of the soaring cost of oil has been that airlines are now flying their planes with less extra fuel. This saves money because less fuel at takeoff means less overall weight for the aircraft, and thus less overall fuel consumption.

Unfortunately it can also mean more inconveniences for passengers. With less fuel to spare, planes can't circle their destination airports for as long should some sort of unexpected delay develop. That means that more planes end up being diverted to entirely different cities.

The airlines insist that flying with less fuel is NOT dangerous. They say they are meeting FAA standards for the amounts initially loaded onto planes: enough fuel to reach the destination; a diversion airport if necessary; and an extra 45 minutes of flying time. Still, the practice is making some people nervous.

Count me among those. I freely admit that I'm not an airline pilot nor do I play one on TV. However, to this untrained civilian it would seem that running out of gas in an airplane at 30,000 feet would result in more complications than, say, having a car run out of gas while driving on the interstate.