Operational Flight Plan and Fuel Management
Operational Flight Plan and Fuel Management tests the operator's flight plan as a working document and the commander's fuel decisions once airborne. It covers OFP content, fuel uplift and tankering, in-flight fuel checks, and the meaning of minimum fuel and emergency fuel.
The OFP and fuel log
The OFP brings together route, levels, masses, performance, fuel plan, alternates and meteorological information. A fuel log records uplift, burn, remaining fuel and checks at waypoints. The commander compares actual remaining fuel with the plan; a persistent negative trend must be investigated before it becomes a diversion problem.
Worked example
Planned fuel at a waypoint is 105 L; actual is 95 L. The remaining trip needs 52.5 L, the alternate 20 L and the final reserve 22.5 L, a total of 95 L. The aircraft has exactly the required fuel and no contingency margin. If a further 10-minute delay is likely, the commander should act early: request a more direct route or lower level, consider a nearer alternate, or declare minimum fuel if the fuel situation may affect the landing. Waiting until the reserve is reached removes all options.
Tankering - carrying extra fuel because it is cheaper at departure - must be justified against landing mass, tank capacity and the extra burn from carrying the weight. Fuel is not automatically 'free' because it was bought cheaply.
Traps
Treating the OFP as a forecast that cannot be revised; confusing minimum fuel with an emergency; forgetting that fuel density changes with temperature; and tankering without a landing-mass check. The fuel log must be contemporaneous, not reconstructed.