Narrative:

About 150 NM south of sie; washington center cleared us direct to sie 180/40 and [we] were told to expect to hold there. We later received hold instructions to hold there with an efc. Informed dispatch via ACARS of hold and inability to hold for long due to limited fuel. Suggested to dispatcher intervention by ATC liaison since efc time exceeded our capacity to hold and we would need to divert soon. Released from hold early but then told to hold at boton; initially with efc of XA15 and almost immediately after that changed to XA30. Called dispatch on VHF and informed them we would have to divert to ZZZ and landed with about 8.7 on the gauges. Refueled; obtained new flight plan; and departed. Arrived almost three hours late due mostly to company's decision to dispatch flights to new york with less fuel than is needed to hold for delays caused; even on 'clear and a million' days such as this one by over scheduling of arrivals by company and other airlines; creating volume that the airport clearly has consistently demonstrated inability to handle even in good weather. A substantial number of passengers inconvenienced due to misconnections. This was only my second fuel-related incident at this carrier in many years. Although that might seem like a small number; it should be as alarming to the company and the FAA as it is to me because the first incident occurred less than two weeks ago where we ended up with a fuel emergency coming from lax with no alternate and extensive delays trying to get in on a clear day. My company needs to put a lot more fuel on all new york flights as long as they are unable to handle the scheduled traffic. Stop dispatching flights to new york without enough fuel and stop trying to make pilots feel inadequate if they ask for more fuel.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 Captain laments company policy of dispatching to New York area airports with insufficient fuel for typical ATC delays. Flight diverted for fuel and arrived three hours late.

Narrative: About 150 NM south of SIE; Washington Center cleared us direct to SIE 180/40 and [we] were told to expect to hold there. We later received hold instructions to hold there with an EFC. Informed Dispatch via ACARS of hold and inability to hold for long due to limited fuel. Suggested to Dispatcher intervention by ATC liaison since EFC time exceeded our capacity to hold and we would need to divert soon. Released from hold early but then told to hold at BOTON; initially with EFC of XA15 and almost immediately after that changed to XA30. Called Dispatch on VHF and informed them we would have to divert to ZZZ and landed with about 8.7 on the gauges. Refueled; obtained new flight plan; and departed. Arrived almost three hours late due mostly to company's decision to dispatch flights to New York with less fuel than is needed to hold for delays caused; even on 'clear and a million' days such as this one by over scheduling of arrivals by company and other airlines; creating volume that the airport clearly has consistently demonstrated inability to handle even in good weather. A substantial number of passengers inconvenienced due to misconnections. This was only my second fuel-related incident at this carrier in many years. Although that might seem like a small number; it should be as alarming to the company and the FAA as it is to me because the first incident occurred less than two weeks ago where we ended up with a fuel emergency coming from LAX with no alternate and extensive delays trying to get in on a clear day. My company needs to put a LOT more fuel on all New York flights as long as they are unable to handle the scheduled traffic. Stop dispatching flights to New York without enough fuel and stop trying to make pilots feel inadequate if they ask for more fuel.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.