Date: 201907
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Weather elements / visibility: Turbulence
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: A321
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Cruise
Airspace: Class A ZZZ
ATC / advisory: Center ZZZ
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Human factors: Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Situational Awareness; Workload
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Detector: Person Dispatch
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Contributing factors: Human Factors; Company Policy; Procedure; Weather
Primary problem: Ambiguous

Narrative: At cruise about 2/3 of the way into the flight; I received the following ACARS message from Dispatch. 'I just came on duty a while ago. We should not be tankering (ferry fuel) into ZZZ. I show temperature in ZZZ now is 37C. At that temperature; MAX LAND WT Flaps 3 is 161.9. Flaps Full is 15.3. I am sorry for bad news.' Based on actual zero fuel weight; and maximum landing weight; Flaps 3; this meant we needed to land with no more than 9.8 pounds [of] fuel. We were fairly close to our planned burn curve and our [calculations] estimated landing with 17.1; so we were overweight by around 7;300 pounds of fuel to land!We were cruising at FL340 as filed. I immediately started the APU to begin extra fuel burn and we coordinated with ATC for lower altitudes. We were stepped down to FL300; FL240; 17;000 feet and finally 10;000 feet. Initially; I pushed up the airspeed and used partial speed brakes to increase drag. We coordinated to enter holding southeast of ZZZ. I made a public address to our passengers about an anticipated delay due to burning fuel for reducing weight due to the hot temperature and high altitude of ZZZ. After slowing to enter the holding pattern; we extended the landing gear and selected flaps to full. We had unforecast continuous light chop and turbulence at 10;000 feet. ZZZ had heavy traffic saturation and I definitely did not want to have to go-around upon arrival due to still being too heavy; so the First Officer and I planned to be about 1;000 pounds below maximum landing weight on short final and to use Flaps 3.We departed [the hold] after holding for about 30 minutes with 12.0 fuel remaining. I elected to leave the gear and flaps down to continue increased burn since we still needed to be below 9.8 maximum. We were initially vectored northeast heading 030 which concerned me a little but then turned towards the airport and directly towards the FAF for the ILS XXR. Landing was uneventful. However; due to the distractions; we descended momentarily below the Class B airspace after being cleared for the visual approach at 30 miles out; which we reported in a separate report. We landed with about 8.3 pounds [of] fuel; about 1.5 below our maximum landing weight fuel. I found out after gate arrival that about 30 of our passengers became airsick as a result of the bumpy air. We also had a female adult passenger who the flight attendants reported seemed dazed and who had some numbness on her left side after the airplane was partially deplaned. They called for paramedics to meet the passenger but she was able to walk off on her own without assistance.Dispatch human error in effort to save fuel costs by ferrying fuel to ZZZ during high density altitude conditions. Dispatch needs procedures to catch these types of errors BEFORE the flight plan is released. Checking density altitude projections is something that I expected the Dispatcher to be taking into account for planning purposes. We could have potentially jeopardized the safety of the flight by landing under those conditions.




Synopsis: A321 Captain reported the flight required unusual flight procedures because it was over fueled considering the high density altitude at the destination.