B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Human Factors
We were at cruise altitude at FL 350 and about 1 hour from landing. I was the pilot not flying and we did a bathroom swap and I went first. Upon my return I noticed that the main fuel tanks needed to be rebalanced so I set up fuel panel for that. When my FO returned I forgot to mention to him that I was balancing fuel. We then became distracted by several descents from ATC and then the RNAV arrival descent. I noticed that our fuel was out of balance with left tank at 6.2 and right tank at 4.5. I then rebalanced fuel and got both tanks even when we rolled onto final for the visual.This was my fault as I should have waited to rebalance once my First Officer was back in cockpit. At the least I should have remembered to tell him when he returned. The bathroom swap out and its distractions is not good time to rebalance fuel!
A Boeing 737 Captain reported a fuel imbalance condition which was the result of fuel crossfeed mismanagement and an intra cockpit communication breakdown. The situation was corrected and an uneventful landing was accomplished.