I’m not sure that pride is the right motivator for trying to reduce operating costs. Yes I suppose we all take pride in a flight that’s well conducted and there is an element of satisfaction in getting back 20 minutes early…if for no other reason than to be on your way home when you should be crossing the threshold at that particular time.
It is my belief that pilots tend to be predominately of a more independent nature if you were to consider them as a group. Whenever our bosses (in any company) issue an instruction that we as a group consider suspect, that instruction/procedure tends to get circumnavigated by the operating crew. E.g. it would be a brave manager to challenge a captain on his fuel load if that captain had decided he needed extra for weather delays etc.
The cost savings available to the company I illustrated are a fact. I have no doubt all commercial operators in the UK and around the World will be doing similar analysis and trying to reduce fuel costs. The majority of pilots do realise that they have a direct bearing on the operating costs of the company, granted only by a small amount if taken on an individual bases, but not if taken across the across the fleet. They will do their best to reduce the cost where they can, after all no one wins if the company fails…least of all the flight crew. Aviation is now so cutthroat in nature that any company that squanders money needlessly will not be flying for long. Thankfully pilots tend to be smart enough to know this.
RWU, not sure what your talking about. Who said anything about 340kts in the descent or any other type of stupidity? We are talking about operating the aircraft efficiently…that means complying with the flight plan with regard to speed flight level etc.