Fuel reserve caps opposed by Ryanair pilots

Ryanair pilots have called attempts by the low-cost airline to force them to fly with low fuel safety reserves “insane.”

In order to save money on fuel costs per flight, the budget carrier is restricting the discretionary rights of its pilots by capping the amount of fuel that is added as a safety reserve, according to pilot comments.

The new ruling was communicated by internal documents seen by The Sunday Times. Pilots maintain that passenger safety will be at risk and that the reserve reduction is due to high jet fuel costs.

Information on the airline’s new policy comes to light as the Civil Aviation Authority released figures that show the doubling of emergencies due to fuel shortages occurring over British airspace in the past five years. Last year, 27 planes had to be given priority landing rights because of fuel shortages – more than double the number of occurrences in 2003.

There were also 18 “May-days” called in during the same period, caused by fuel shortages. What this meant to the UK airports involved was forcing them into emergency management mode and additional expense, including moving fire equipment onto the runways.

European Commission rules require that all planes carry a “contingency” reserve of five per cent of the fuel required for the trip.

Ryanair pilots are now required to limit their contingency reserve to a maximum of 300kg. This would provide a Boeing 737 with about five minutes of additional stacking time.

www.ryanair.com