Date: 202001
Location: ZZZ.ARTCC, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Aircraft: B787 Dreamliner Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Cruise
Airspace: Class A ZZZ
ATC / advisory: Center ZZZ
Aircraft component: Fuel System
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Not Flying; First Officer
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: During our flight from ZZZ to ZZZ1 our aircraft overburned the flight plan fuel calculations by 7;000 lbs at block-in.  We stayed within 1;000 feet of flight planned altitude for almost the entire flight; and never deviated significantly from the route.  The over-burn seemed to worsen over the course of the flight; however at ZZZZZ we were over 1;000 lbs above planned fuel.  At the crew change; about 7:30 into the flight we were 1;000 lbs low.  During the remaining half of the flight to top of descent we lost an additional 4;000 lbs from flight planned quantities; and during descent and landing lost another 1;000 lbs.  We blocked in with 15;600 lbs; while our REMF fuel was 21;700 lbs.  During the flight we queried the Dispatcher and asked him to have Load Planning verify all their weights.  He said he did that; and passed on their numbers; which were the numbers we had loaded from the initial weights message at the gate.  We also ran through the suspected fuel leak checklist and determined we did not have a leak.  We began discussing this with other [company] aircraft flying similar routes that evening.  Eventually; every flight to [foreign country] was in the conversation; ZZZ; ZZZ2 and ZZZ3 to ZZZ4; (I believe all 787s) and also a 777 flying ZZZ2 to ZZZ5; along with us (ZZZ-ZZZ1).  All of us had the same issue: massive overburn; insignificant deviation from planned altitudes or routes; and arriving at destination with no possibility of accepting any delays.  At least one flight did divert due to fuel shortage; I believe it was the ZZZ3-ZZZ4 crew (not sure about that.)  One other crew mentioned that they'd contacted dispatch about the situation and had essentially been informed that it was due to their being held down at lower altitudes than planned.  After learning that every single plane from the USA to [foreign country] was overburning; I again queried the dispatcher; and he called us on the satphone this time; asking what was going on.  Something was obviously not right.  One of the flights mentioned that the same thing had happened the day before and one flight had diverted that night to ZZZ5.  Dispatch then informed us that the person who had been working the night before was coming in to work in about 30 minutes and that our situation would be passed on to him as he was more familiar with what had happened the previous night.  He also mentioned that he thought a new burn profile had been uploaded to the software recently and speculated that it might have been faulty.  We didn't hear any more about it from Dispatch.I've flown the B787 on these routes; and I can't recall ever overburning a plan by more than 1;500 lbs.  7;000 lbs is beyond belief; but every flight dispatched on these routes that night was several thousand lbs under planned fuel.Dispatch asked us to file [a report] on the incident to highlight the problem and ensure it is corrected.




Synopsis: B787 First Officer reported fuel burn that was well in excess of the planned fuel burn; although the flight flew at planned altitudes. Reportedly; other aircraft with the same fuel management system reported similar fuel burning problems.