Originally Posted by
Fonsini
It strikes me that pilots are being placed into an increasingly difficult situation - land with excess and get a warning from management (esp. Ryanair) or land with less than mins and you get hit with a safety violation.
Doesn’t seem to leave much wriggle room for holds/delays/weather diverts etc. I would prefer that these management practices are not revealed in memos after a crash caused by fuel starvation....
There always is wiggle room.
The pilot in command carries strict liability. Practically this means there is only one person responsible.
Company manuals, Company made plots of fuel carried versus peer pilots and the like seek to push an agenda.
Heck, an Australian carrier "encourages" all pilots to review on the company "app" fuel ordering.
The First Officer up for a promotion can be "managed" that way too.
At the end of the day, Pilot in Command means just that.
Statute empowers the PIC to do the right thing, not the commercially expedient.