Fuel exhaustion happens when there is no useable fuel to supply the engine.
Running out of fuel in a plane is not like running out of gas in a car.
Fuel starvation happens when the fuel supply to the engine is interrupted although there is still enough fuel on board.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau made a statement on January 9th that they believe that fuel management is a serious risk in today’s aviation climate. Too many fuel related occurrences happen yearly–more than 20 reports of fuel exhaustion or starvation incidents and accidents last year, and these lead to diversions and accidents. The tragedy is that these incidents are avoidable, simply with better management.