Have to agree with aerobat & BALLSOUT, in my 6 years there I was never taken to task for carrying extra fuel, which I could & always did justify by a note on the voyage report, but. . . . . I did see quite a few colleagues (as we sometimes flew 2xCapt's together) who seemed to think it was somehow going to elevate their status if they took min & not min+300, or thought that 500 extra was fine arriving in the Med with TS forecast at destination + Alt 1 & 2.
Unfortunately, some Base Capts (thinking a large
UK base here particularly) have personal history of arriving on fumes, &, think that others should accept the same risk & lack of professionalism that they are comfortable with. Lets face it, anyone who has in the past criticised people for ARRIVING with too much fuel, really doesn't get it . . . . so, you should refuse short-cuts & select F40 at 20nm just to keep the village-idiot happy ?
Main cause of concern to me is the percentage of Commanders with no prior experience in other companies, who respect/adhere to the exhortations of aforesaid Base Lackeys (and it certainly used to be only a few bad eggs carrying this onerous reputation, the majority seemed to accept common-sense decisions from the "troops") ) without thinking it through for themselves. There were unfortunately a few terminally indoctrinated individuals who blindly followed the company edicts, this should serve as a wake up call to them that the buck stops with them & that their list of priorities should read 1- Safety 2- Legality 3- Commercial/Company perceived (or real) pressure, & not the inverse.