Narrative:

Upon pushback and normal startup at the departure airport; upon taxi out; ground advised us of a ground hold into destination airport. We parked on a taxiway and elected to shutdown both engines; due to the length of the projected ground stop and due to the fact that the fuel margin between planned and required was so slim. Once finally released departure was normal. Prior to reaching the initial point for the FRDMM3 arrival; we were vectored off the arrival. We were then cleared to letzz a little further down the arrival and told to descend via the arrival. This is where things started to become so busy and confusing.ATC notified everyone at least 3 to 4 times that runway directions had changed at national even though national had not published a new ATIS. They were landing south one minute and north the next; requiring multiple FMS changes and entries.this is when things started stacking up for ATC. ATC gave us a hold as published 3 miles prior to the fix they wanted to hold at; which does not allow a proper FMS entry nor even the ability to scramble and determine the hold via green needles without passing over the fix. After informing them that it was too close to the fix; they then vectored us off the arrival and holding fix.at this point we had sent a [message] to dispatch and told them we were being held. We received back that minimum fuel was approximately 3;000 pounds. At this point we had roughly 3;200-3;300 pounds and that we could only take one turn in the hold if that. We declared minimum fuel. At this point we were roughly over iad with 3;100 pounds of fuel. ATC then gave us a heading for the river and a descent. After being cleared for the river visual; they turned us off the approach again! We had started to configure at the point; we were approximately at flaps 2 with the gear down and around 210 knots and slowing. After the turn we encountered a turbulent patch of air that [over sped] the flaps by a few knots for 1 second. We were then turned back and recleared the river visual. Landing phase was uneventful; turned off the runway with the fuel indications just beginning to turn amber.a determination should be established as to why national decided to change runways so many times during light and variable wind conditions which in turn stacked up arriving traffic. As well as the margins for fuel have become so stringent that it almost forces an emergency situation anytime undue and unplanned delays occur; even in a cavu day.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A regional jet flight crew reported experiencing a minimum fuel condition due to ongoing delays at the destination airport; which were attributed to multiple runway changes. They also cited their company's fuel policy as a contributing factor to their fuel situation.

Narrative: Upon pushback and normal startup at the departure airport; upon taxi out; ground advised us of a ground hold into destination airport. We parked on a taxiway and elected to shutdown both engines; due to the length of the projected ground stop and due to the fact that the fuel margin between planned and required was so slim. Once finally released departure was normal. Prior to reaching the initial point for the FRDMM3 arrival; we were vectored off the arrival. We were then cleared to LETZZ a little further down the arrival and told to descend via the arrival. This is where things started to become so busy and confusing.ATC notified everyone at least 3 to 4 times that runway directions had changed at National even though National had not published a new ATIS. They were landing south one minute and north the next; requiring multiple FMS changes and entries.This is when things started stacking up for ATC. ATC gave us a hold as published 3 miles prior to the fix they wanted to hold at; which does not allow a proper FMS entry nor even the ability to scramble and determine the hold via green needles without passing over the fix. After informing them that it was too close to the fix; they then vectored us off the arrival and holding fix.At this point we had sent a [message] to Dispatch and told them we were being held. We received back that minimum fuel was approximately 3;000 LBS. At this point we had roughly 3;200-3;300 pounds and that we could only take one turn in the hold if that. We declared minimum fuel. At this point we were roughly over IAD with 3;100 LBS of fuel. ATC then gave us a heading for the river and a descent. After being cleared for the river visual; they turned us off the approach again! We had started to configure at the point; we were approximately at Flaps 2 with the gear down and around 210 knots and slowing. After the turn we encountered a turbulent patch of air that [over sped] the flaps by a few knots for 1 second. We were then turned back and recleared the river visual. Landing phase was uneventful; turned off the runway with the fuel indications just beginning to turn amber.A determination should be established as to why National decided to change runways so many times during light and variable wind conditions which in turn stacked up arriving traffic. As well as the margins for fuel have become so stringent that it almost forces an emergency situation anytime undue and unplanned delays occur; even in a CAVU day.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.