US airlines take measures to avoid fuel shortages

US airlines are adding refueling stops on some routes and topping off planes with fuel to help manage potentially tight supplies amid the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline.

American Airlines added refueling stops to two long-haul flights from Charlotte, North Carolina — a non-stop to Honolulu, Hawaii, and a non-stop to London — to preserve fuel stocks at its second busiest hub.

Southwest Airlines is filling planes with additional fuel before they travel to some airports, such as Nashville International Airport in Tennessee, to augment local supplies. The airline said it is actively managing fuel supplies through contingency plans such as trucked-in supplies where possible.

The measures come as the cyberattack-induced outage on the massive Colonial Pipeline system enters its fifth day. The pipeline carries gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel from Gulf coast refineries to the Atlantic coast, including many parts of the southeastern US.

But the pipeline outage so far does not appear to have created an actual shortage of jet fuel, just triggered preventive measures. United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby said the outage has had a "relatively minor" effect because most airports keep 8-10 days of fuel on hand, and he expects that will remain the case if the Colonial Pipeline stays on target to substantially restart by this weekend.

Rather airlines are taking measures to preserve fuel in markets most likely to feel squeezed.

"We put twice as much fuel on the airplane, it flies from Chicago to Nashville, instead of refueling in Nashville it has enough fuel to fly back to Chicago," Kirby said during an event hosted by think tank Resources for the Future.

Operations at the busiest airport in the US, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, have not been affected even though it is directly supplied by the Colonial pipeline. Airport officials and airlines are working with fuel suppliers to mitigate the pipeline shutdown impact, including coordinating with additional suppliers.

Hartsfield-Jackson is also served by the Kinder Morgan Products (SE) pipeline, formerly known as Plantation, which also serves a number of other airports on the Colonial system, such as Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. SE was already running at full capacity before the Colonial pipeline shutdown, however.

By Wendy Dulaney and Chris Knight