“Being professional shouldn't be the reason for ridicule.”
Maybe a misunderstanding but I would never suggest that being professional should be subject to ridicule. I was once a proud austronought myself and you should note my opening comment thus:
“This is merely an observation, not a criticism; I see both sides of the story on this issue.”
“great circle distance LAX-HKG 7260 nm, great circle distance LAX-SYD 7488nm.”
True, but winds can give Honky a longer flight time than even MEL sometimes.
“Full to the gunwahales for Airline A may be different to Airline B.”
True, and this may have been the case. All of the arguments put forth may be completely true and valid and my position may be completely incorrect.
However, having spent a third of my career as an austronought and two thirds of my career . . . . not, I have seen all manner of approaches taken to the game of flying airliners with varying degrees of flexibility and I feel reasonably confident in standing by the implications of my initial comment.