Narrative:

Due to the payload and weight limitations; I planned a flight as a redispatch flight; with a total fuel of 309;910 lbs and a planned arrival fuel of 19;946 lbs; which included 2000 lbs of dispatch add fuel and 15 minutes of hold fuel. Normally on a redispatch flight I specify a fuel load instead of add fuel to dispatch add; to allow for a 'redispatch buffer'; however due to limitations of the flight planning system; I was unable to do so on this particular flight; because if I had done so the system would not calculate a flight plan. Planned fuel at the flights redispatch point was 49;399 lbs.when I walked in for my shift the next morning; I learned that the flight had overburned by 4000 lbs and had only approximately 45;000 lbs at his redispatch point. Furthermore; the dispatcher who was running the analysis at the redispatch point ran several scenarios to try to get a redispatch fuel without success. Because of this; the flight nearly diverted. After a group discussion of qualified dispatchers; the dispatcher was finally able to get a point aloft flight plan to run; which provided sufficient fuel for redispatch. I looked at the flight after the incident and found that planned numbers on the flight were lower than the dispatch release by nearly 2000 lbs. Given the tightness of these ultra-long haul flights to begin with; this is very concerning to me.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Dispatcher and First Officer reported an issue with the company dispatch computer system which does not reflect accurate fuel burns on specific international flights and sometimes jeopardizes legal re-dispatch points.

Narrative: Due to the payload and weight limitations; I planned a flight as a Redispatch Flight; with a total fuel of 309;910 lbs and a planned arrival fuel of 19;946 lbs; which included 2000 lbs of Dispatch Add fuel and 15 minutes of Hold fuel. Normally on a redispatch flight I specify a fuel load instead of add fuel to dispatch add; to allow for a 'Redispatch Buffer'; however due to limitations of the Flight Planning system; I was unable to do so on this particular flight; because if I had done so the system would not calculate a flight plan. Planned fuel at the flights redispatch point was 49;399 lbs.When I walked in for my shift the next morning; I learned that the flight had overburned by 4000 lbs and had only approximately 45;000 lbs at his redispatch point. Furthermore; the dispatcher who was running the analysis at the redispatch point ran several scenarios to try to get a redispatch fuel without success. Because of this; the flight nearly diverted. After a group discussion of qualified dispatchers; the dispatcher was finally able to get a point aloft flight plan to run; which provided sufficient fuel for redispatch. I looked at the flight after the incident and found that planned numbers on the flight were lower than the Dispatch release by nearly 2000 lbs. Given the tightness of these ultra-long haul flights to begin with; this is very concerning to me.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.