If you’re traveling through Orlando International Airport (MCO) in the next couple of days, be ready for some operational disruptions.
Orlando Airport will run out of fuel on Sunday
As noted by @xJonNYC, there’s a bit of a fuel crisis at Orlando International Airport, and it’s going to get even worse later today. Specifically, per a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM), Orlando Airport is expected to not have any fuel from Sunday evening until Tuesday morning.
The issue was caused by bad weather along the Gulf Coast, which has presented reserve supply delivery to Florida via ships.
While the airport hasn’t yet run out of fuel, it has already started to be rationed, so airlines have been tankering in as much fuel as possible for the past day or so. This means they’ve been flying to Orlando with additional fuel, so that they don’t need to refuel (or need to refuel significantly less) when departing the airport.
Admittedly this poses its own challenges. Even if a plane has the capacity to carry enough fuel for the return trip, it might not be able to land in Orlando with it. Planes have higher maximum takeoff weights than maximum landing weights.
So this isn’t a big issue for an Orlando to Miami flight, for example, but it is obviously a much bigger issue for an Orlando to Seattle or Orlando to London flight.
How are airlines handling this?
While tankering has already been happening without passengers knowing, the situation will get worse on Sunday evening, when there is expected to be no jet fuel left. Airlines are starting to publish their plans. Of the “big three” US carriers, it seems that United has already made the most proactive schedule changes.
For example, United’s first Orlando to San Francisco flight today is diverting to Dallas, while United’s later Orland to San Francisco flight is diverting to Fort Myers.
Meanwhile United’s Orlando to Los Angeles flight is diverting to New Orleans.
British Airways’ Orlando to London Gatwick flight will be stopping in Miami to refuel.
While American hasn’t yet published schedule changes, the plan is to refuel in Miami for westbound flights, and to refuel in Atlanta, Charlotte, or Jacksonville, for northbound flights.
We’ll also likely see some flight cancelations as a result of this. After all, fuel stops can significantly increase travel time, and in some cases this might cause crews to “time out,” working more than their contractual limits.
Bottom line
Orlando Airport is expected to run out of fuel on Sunday evening. While airlines have already been tankering in fuel as much as possible, operations will be impacted significantly more as of today, with many flights making refueling stops.
This shouldn’t have a major impact for short haul flights (like to Atlanta or Miami), but if you’re on a longer flight out of Orlando, you can expect you will have an extra stop, or might see flights canceled altogether.
Are any OMAAT readers impacted by this Orlando fuel situation?
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