Airlines Dumping Fuel Over Our Oceans

As this relates, I thought I'd share the following news item:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators are letting some airlines carry smaller reserves of fuel on international flights to reduce weight and save money, the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) said on Monday.
With record-high fuel costs worsening red ink at struggling big airlines, the FAA (news - web sites) is allowing airlines that fly trans-Atlantic and other international routes to cut the amount of fuel they carry on certain flights by up to 10 percent, agency officials said.
Russ Chew, the FAA's senior air traffic official, told reporters that carriers were putting pressure on regulators to take steps that would help improve aircraft fuel efficiency.
Chew said the FAA, among other things, was working on more efficient air traffic management, improved navigation technology and procedures to permit more direct routing and simpler flight plans.
Full Article

Dear Rosemary--
Yes, it is true. Evidently pilots can choose to jettison excess fuel to increase the potential of a safe landing. Although this is by no means an authoritative site, you could check this out.
Rebecca