US Airways dispatchers deny shaving fuel supplies

US Airways workers who calculate fuel loads deny a claim that pilots are pressured to carry less fuel as a cost-saving measure.

The president of the dispatchers' labor group said Thursday that the charge by pilots is "nothing more than hot air."

The dispute pits the 5,200-member pilots union against the company and a group of 174 dispatchers, and it threatens to raise questions about safety at US Airways.

On Wednesday, the US Airline Pilots Association said the union and eight pilots filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration charging that US Airways was pressuring pilots to use less fuel than they feel is safe. With less fuel aboard, the planes would be lighter and get better mileage, saving the company money.

The pilots' union also took at a full-page advertisement in USA Today to make their case.

That angered Don Wright, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 545, which represents dispatchers who plan every flight including calculating the fuel needs.

"I feel like they've taken a shot at us because the company isn't responsible for putting the fuel on the plane; we are," Wright said. "There has been absolutely zero pressure placed on us by the company to reduce the fuel loads."

Jet fuel is at record prices, causing airlines to ground gas-guzzling planes, cut back on flights and install mileage-stretching winglets on their planes.

FAA regulations require planes to carry enough fuel to reach their destination and an alternate airport, plus an additional 45 minutes' supply. A spokesman for Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways Group Inc. said the company requires pilots to carry a 60- to 90-minute extra fuel supply and that it called in the eight pilots for training because they routinely carried more.

US Airways pilot James Ray, a spokesman for his union, said the treatment of the eight amounted to intimidation.

Wright said his dispatchers, who are certified by the FAA, plan 4,000 to 5,000 flights per year and consider weather, air traffic delays and other factors in calculating how much fuel to load.

"It's not a safety issue, it's a comfort issue," he said.