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I am currently working on a fuel burn analysis of a particular route (ATL to DCA). I really want to predict takeoff weight of the flight; however, I realized that it's not easy to get the information. Instead, I may want to gather information about minimum fuel requirement for the flight.

For example, I heard from the pilot of the flight that they should have more fuel (20,000lbs) than the minimum fuel (15,000lbs) before takeoff. Could anyone please let me know where I can get this information such as minimum fuel requirement for A320 from ATL to DCA?

Pondlife
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Sillykim
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  • This sounds like a college assignment. The basic legal requirement is sufficient fuel to go from A to B, missed approach at B, fly to alternate airport C, wherever it is (has to be an airport with weather that assures a landing), then land at C with 30 minutes fuel remaining. A lot of Capts and/or airline policies will add more than 30 minutes to the min fuel to allow for delays due to holding or worse headwinds than forecast. How this applies to an A320? You should contact an airline that runs A320s and ask if their Operations dept can help you out. You might get lucky. – John K Jan 19 '19 at 01:53
  • FAR 91.167 requires 45 minutes of cruise flight after the alternate under IFR, which I believe applies to Part 121 carriers. Correct? – 2NinerRomeo Jan 19 '19 at 02:01
  • Thanks all for your comments! So, it seems to me that it's also hard to get the information. Perhaps, no one knows the information except airlines? – Sillykim Jan 19 '19 at 02:23
  • Welcome to aviation.SE! To be precise, there's a difference between a policy and a regulation. Each airline may set their own policy based on many variables, but the regulations are the same for everyone. If you're asking about regulations, this question would be a good starting point. – Pondlife Jan 19 '19 at 02:47
  • Pondlife, thank you so much for your comment! It's really good for me to know the difference between a policy and a regulation. Before I posted this question, I actually already saw the question that you shared. I might want to know 'block fuel' information of a particular route with a particular aircraft. – Sillykim Jan 19 '19 at 07:36

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14 CFR 121.639 Requires an airliner to have enough fuel to reach the destination, then fly to the (most distant) alternate, then fly after that for 45 minutes. If you want to know exactly how much fuel that is for a particular airplane on a particular route, you have to refer to that airplane's POH and plan the flight. It will also depend on the winds aloft and what airport is chosen as the alternate.

Dave-CFII
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  • I like the idea to take a look pilot operating handbook; however, I doubt if I could get the handbook from open source data. – Sillykim Jan 19 '19 at 07:38