Exceeding aircraft range.

[joefremont]

I just got a support request from a member who stated that they saw a number of pilots flying an A388 from PHNL-FAOR but the system was not letting them create that flight. The distance for that flight is 10300 but the A388 max fuel range is 9600.

which I replied:

There is a simple trick I could tell you to allow you to do this, but these people are cheating, and I will now make it my mission in life to find a way to stop it.

The trick I did not state is to add a technical stop to the route, then the system will expect you to make that stop and refuel. But right now there is nothing in place to force the pilot to make that stop so I am thinking of ways to force them. Some Ideas

[*]New Penalty, If a flight exceeds the aircrafts range and they did not make a tech stop, then they get a 'Skipped Technical Stop' penalty, same as wrong airport, -15% rating and no revenue.
[*]For any flight that exceeds maximum range, automatic admin review, recalculate fuel usage to 100% of average and adjust payload accordingly. (this could be applied to flights that happened in the past)
[*]Normally if a flight exceeds the aircrafts maximum range the system will block booking the flight unless a technical stop is on the route. Change this so that if a pilot has exceeded maximum range in the past it will force aircraft maximum range in all cases.

This may be an over reaction on my part and I am sure some will say that its ok to exceed maximum range if you have a tail wind, to which I would reply yes but in almost all the cases I have seen the pilot exceeded the range in both directions.

So please give me your thoughts, if you have a different idea how to do this or even if you think I am nuts and should just ignore this.

[joefremont]

I have made a couple updates today. First when you book a flight its going to clearly tell you need to make a technical stop and require you select the box saying where you plan on landing. Second I have updated the code that flags flights as needing admin review so that all flights that exceed the limit need review.

For now I think I will leave it at this and see if it corrects the behavior of the handful of pilots who are doing this.

[Cat]

curious question: Can autopilots do the same or are they limited to aircraft range/no technical stops? If you think it's a problem with a couple of cheaters now, if this loophole exists for autopilots as well, expect a proverbial dam bust when autopilots go live to the masses.

And no you are not "nuts". Welllll, maybe a little for putting up with all of us over the years.

Happy Holidays!

[joefremont]

Hi Sam, I don't think its an autopilot issue. When I did some digging, over the last year only about 6 pilots did this more than once. Also looking back, before 2024 there were only a few flights that exceeded max range per year but in the last year over 200. I did send those six pilots messages about it and I have been in contact with the CEO of the VA where the vast majority of these happened with a 'please don't do this any more' request and I think it was taken favorably.

All the flight that exceed max range will now automatically be flagged for review so we will have a way to monitor if this continues to happen.