A319
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 162; Flight Crew Total 22009; Flight Crew Type 7202
Workload; Situational Awareness; Confusion; Distraction
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Chart Or Publication; Company Policy; Procedure
Downloaded flight plan in hotel room using company software and wireless connection to get an update on the flight. Looked to bottom of flight plan page and saw that Remaining Fuel (REMF) at the destination was 3;441 LBS (45 minutes). There had been no additional fuel added; just burn + FAR (B043 fuel exemption for international flights) + taxi. Thought I should call Dispatch Sec 53 right then and there; but realized I was in a foreign country and my cell phone would not work. Went down to lobby of hotel to wait for scheduled ride to the airport. While checking out I borrowed the phone from the front desk; and placed a call to local Operations that there would be an increase of fuel. At the airport Operations and the Captain called Dispatch for a briefing on the flight. The Captain pointed out the fuel remaining figure and the Dispatcher was surprised the figure was that low. The Dispatcher then said there had been an upgrade to the Sabre Flight Planning system that had gone into effect about 3 days ago. The update now allowed the Dispatcher to plan fuel loads based on time instead of pounds. So our original flight plan was just that; burn plus FAR reserve. The Sabre System is also supposed to [input] the other reserve fuels from the flight plan policy. According to the Dispatcher; the update worked as specified on the first day of release. However; on subsequent days Dispatch started seeing errors in fuel loads. So; if the Dispatcher used this specific function of planning fuel based on time; instead of pounds; then the fuel load has to be checked that the load complies with fuel policy. My thought is that a few have slipped by into the system. The Dispatcher asked the Captain how much fuel remaining he wanted to land with in his destination. The Captain wanted the REMF changed to 6;000 LBS. After the change in fuel and a new Release 2; the Captain printed the paperwork package and accepted the release. The crew then proceeded to security and US Immigration to resume normal preflight duties. The flight departed normally 15 minutes late.The crew talked about low fuel situations in the Airbus. The Flight Manual has a discussion on fuel load sensing. If the fuel load on any one side gets below 1;650 lbs; a low level fuel warning ECAM appears. Per the 319 QRH 120.9 FUEL L(R) WING TANK LO LVL checklist; the flight would have had to divert for that ECAM warning. With a projected fuel load of 3;400 lbs remaining; that would be 1;700 lbs per side. At 1;650 lbs on any one side the ECAM is triggered; and is considered an emergency even though there is still 45 minutes of fuel remaining. The Captain figured the flight with the Release 1 fuel load would have caused a divert about 200 miles short of our destination.
An A319 Captain realized that the recently revised Sabre flight planning software fuel release was based on time; FAR; and taxi but no additional fuel. Dispatch was surprised by the automation oversight and provided additional destination fuel remaining.