I recently flew Southwest Airlines. The flight was delayed. Due to too much fuel put on the plane.?

Question

The boarding attendant came on the loadspeaker and said the fuel tech guy put too much fuel in the plane and is now off loading the fuel not needed. So I asked, if the guy put too much fuel on, how can I be certain he won't take too much off. She got a very pissed off at me.

Would you wonder the samething?

Luckly I made it to my destination and not the scene of the accident.

Answer 1

When the fueler shows up at the aircraft he is given a fuel slip showing how much to fuel the aircraft up to.

If he over fuels he can defuel an aircraft and by watching how much is being removed by watching the fuel gauges he can make sure the correct amt. of fuel was loaded.

The crew gets a flight release that shows how much they should leave with and can check that in the cockpit by checking the fuel gauges.

Answer 2

The thought would probably cross my mind.

Answer 3

No, I wouldn't.  The fuel truck does not decide how much fuel is needed. The pilot makes that decision in consultation with airline operations. It is based, in part, on federal safety rules that cover things like minimum hold times and the potential need to divert to an alternate airport. The fuel truck should only load what is requested. In this case, they apparently screwed up.

The pilot will know if too much is taken off just as he/she knows whether enough was loaded in the first place. The fuel company will have a record of what was loaded and removed. The pilot will check those against how much fuel he/she ordered. Also, there are fuel gauges on the flight deck that tell him/her how much fuel is loaded.

Why not just leave the extra fuel on board? It costs money. Heavier aircraft burn more fuel. Fuel adds weight to the aircraft. Carrying unnecessary fuel adds weight and causes the aircraft to burn more fuel.  In other words, carrying extra fuel wastes fuel.