Originally Posted by
krismiler
If everyone departed with maximum fuel consistent with landing weight limits there would be very few diversions or Mayday fuels. However the excess fuel used would be horrendous and seriously affect profitability.
If everyone departed with the minimum fuel legally required there would be many more diversions and Mayday fuels. The resulting disruptions would also seriously affect profitability, not to mention the safety issues.
The answer lies somewhere in the middle, I’m convinced we’re too near the second option at the moment.
Ideally dispatch should calculate fuel with the longest trackmile option between dep and dest. Same should go for alternate planning. Secondly crew should be paid fuel saving bonus (taking minimum/less extra fuel bonus, perhaps?) without all the ranking bs some base captains can hold against certain pilots when time comes. That crap should be plain illegal, IMHO. Again, ideally, captains should be provided with all the data to make an educated fuel uplift decision based on their experience, route and local knowledge. Another thing comes to mind: policy between least fuel and possible time spent without seatbelt signs on should be clearly stated and communicated, eg.: what's more important saving some kilos enroute or cc being able to sell merch to pax - this only concerns LCC-s mostly, obviously. This latter can make or break a good day out for cc-s simply loosing out on their percentage bonuses from sales due to potentially choppy least fuel CRZ FL.