American Airlines Warns Pilots Nationwide Fuel Shortages to Continue Through Mid-August

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - An American Airlines jet fuel shortage impacting mostly Western cities amid ongoing wildfires has spread across the United States and will continue into the middle of August, CNBC reported, citing an internal company memorandum.

US media reports that more than 20,000 firefighters were combating explosive wildfires across the western regions of the nation over the weekend, as homes burned and thousands of residents the fled fast-spreading flames.

"American Airlines station jet fuel delivery delays initially affected mostly western US cities, but are now being reported at American stations across the country," the memo said, quoted by the news site on Monday. "Delivery delays are expected to continue through mid-August."

The airline warned its pilots about fuel delivery delays at certain midsize airports and asked them to save fuel when possible, according to the report. The carrier blamed the shortage on a lack of trucks, drivers and the supply of jet fuel itself, the report added.

The airline also said flights would carry additional fuel into airports affected by shortages, a procedure known as tankering.

Energy market analyst John Kilduff told Sputnik that airports in the western United States are running low on jet fuel stocks because of the demand from emergency aircraft deployed to fight forest fires in the region.

"It’s happening out in the West areas of the US, because of all the demand for aviation fuel that you need there now for fighting forest fires, using chemical dumps and water dumps," Kilduff, a founding partner at New York energy fund Again Capital and regular commentator on oil market events, said.

Kilduff said the shortage was "really isolated but happening."

"This is a seasonal occurrence each summer and it’s occurring earlier than usual this time than the typical mid to late August period, at the height of the heat wave," he said.