Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy
The following event is an example of a trend of events I have noticed. While no regulatory or operational violation occurred; the margin for safety in maintaining those regulations was compromised. There have been a trend of dispatch flight plans that I have observed and that has been observed by my peers that resemble this situation.During my preflight in Memphis I noticed that our FMS displayed 'check reserve fuel.' This message is commonly displayed during the preflight planning phase and is usually caused by additional points on the arrival that will not be reached. The fuel displayed at the destination was still within acceptable FAA limits. I did not feel uncomfortable with the fuel situation at that time. Upon reaching cruise altitude we leveled off and I reviewed the flight plan once again. I looked at the fuel over the destination in the FMS and saw we would land with only 1;700lbs; 200lbs below the legal reserve of 1;886 lbs. I checked the initialization speed and saw 'max speed' was selected. After cross checking the flight plan; I noticed that the cruise speed planned was .61 Mach or 203KIAS after the top of climb. As the plan progressed the cruise speed was progressively lowered to .59 Mach or 194 KIAS. I informed the Captain that we were going to have to slow down if we wanted to make it to our destination with sufficient fuel. Our current fuel situation at the top of climb was 160lbs more than planned.My captain and I felt uncomfortable with the situation. My captain stated that he did not feel comfortable flying that slow. I was uncomfortable landing with less than the legal reserve. I changed the FMS cruise speed to plan for a slightly higher speed of .70 mach and the FMS showed that we would land with 1900lbs. Just above the legal reserve. The captain and I discussed the possibility of diverting with each other and dispatch if the fuel became an issue. The captain and I both agreed we were in a 'minimum fuel' situation. Around GVE VOR; ATC asked if we could give them our best forward speed at which point we informed them that we were unable to accept due to our fuel situation. ATC was able to accommodate us by climbing us to FL370 from FL350. We continued to our destination utilizing a thrust idle descent to conserve fuel. We landed in Newark with 2;260lbs of fuel almost exactly as planned by the dispatch release.The trend I am seeing from dispatch is that the fuel being given is only just enough to reach our destination and is being planned at long range cruise speeds or lower. This does not take into account ATC requests for faster speeds or unforecasted weather. Dispatch is intentionally planning lower speeds in our flight plan to force pilots to slow down in order to reach our destination with enough fuel. The cost index program should not force pilots to reduce their speed. Dispatch should not be giving pilots flight plans that do not allow for contingencies such as unforecasted weather and ATC instructions. The trends I am seeing in our company flight plans are frequently providing pilots with insufficient contingency fuel. While the pilot in command always has the option to add more fuel to the aircraft at the gate; he/she should not consistently need to do this. The minimum fuel and minimum speed planning is removing options from the cockpit of our flight crews. I believe the company is fully aware of the extent that this is occurring and many pilots feel this concern needs to be addressed before this policy leads to an accident.Threats: Company cost saving policyErrors: Flight crew's insufficient review of flight planningUndesired aircraft state: The aircraft was insufficiently fuel to accept an ATC speed requestAs always; thoroughly reviewing the dispatch release prior to departure is required for safety of flight. It's the flight crews responsibility to ensure the aircraft is properly fuel prior to each flight. The company needs to review it's fuel policies to ensure aircraft are dispatched with sufficient fuel that includes contingencies for unforecasted weather; ATC delays and emergencies.
An EMB-145XR First Officer reported it is becoming quite common to be released with a minimum fuel flight plan and stated he considered this potentially dangerous.