British Airways Running out of water during flight
 

Could I ask you to please look into whether British Airways are intentionally not filling up their water supply on flights in order to cut down on their weight in order to save costs? My husband recently flew on two international flights - from Dallas to Heathrow and a few days later from Heathrow to Cape Town - and on both flights they ran out of water half way through the flight. There was therefore no drinking water at all and no water in the bathrooms!! But the airline attendants were offering champagne in the morning. It seems like a very big coincidence to happen on two flights in one week.

Interesting point. To not have potable water for the rest rooms AND to run short of bottled water. The weights aren't an issue unless they've reconfigured the way they calculate the operating weights. I can't believe they would intentionally not fill up the water system on the plane though.

Any BA regulars here that can add to this?

I wouldn't put anything past wee willie walsh..

But champagne bottles I am sure are heavier than water bottles! lol

I seriously doubt they are intentionally doing this. Even on their largest aircraft the water tank holds about 300 gallons. That's about 2400 pounds which is a good amount of weight, but shaving off 1200 pounds is not going to shave that much off the fuel bill. And if it's a 777, the tank is smaller than this, so in the end, even less savings. Sounds more like some laziness going on.

Possibly an ground maintenance error.

Hopefully their more attentive when topping off the fuel tanks than they are with the water!

im not sure, but on our aircraft (especiall this time of year) at times, our lines for our potable water for coffe, tea and the lavs freeze up and were unable to make those beverages. its a possability.

You would hope, but I have stories of the fuel guys goofing once in awhile. Thankfully, they get caught in the pre-departure audit.

Possible, not very probable though. As Jetliner pointed out, there's not much of an advantage to it. The weight and balance is calculated based on full water tanks.

The other thing someone else pointed out is that the drinking water and the sink water are from two different sources. One is from bottles, one is from the tank that is filled by the ramp guys. I think the most likely scenario for why they ran out of water is the simple fact that they were both rather lengthy flights. Courtney, you are correct that water lines sometimes freeze overnight, but if it is a serious possibility, chances are the water tanks are drained overnight so they don't freeze, then refilled first thing in the AM.

We reduced the amount of water carried a while ago to reduce fuel burn. The weight of water not loaded was entered into the departure control system so the calculated fuel requirement is less.

We have had whole focus groups aimed at reducing weight carried. They get it down to the kilo...