Those "bloody" slow 767's on international long-haul!
Yes, I know they are somewhat more fuel efficient, but hell, they bloody well should be, they cost us and countless others in the 747's heaps of fuel having to stay low, or having to slow down to something less than MRC, which causes AOA's to go to high and make us use more fuel.. .I've been doing the MiddleEast to SE Asia route a lot lately, and seem to 'run into' one on just about every flight!. .And you know that the Indian ATC will not do anything constructive to try and fix the problem, that's been the case for many years.. .I constantly hear multiple aircraft being slowed or not allowed to climb to use their most fuel efficient cruise altitude, because there is ONE 767 cruising at M.80, or, if they really speed up, to M.82, this is rubbish!. .We have to continually cart extra fuel to allow for these 'road-blocks', yet the offending 767 usually say to ATC that they need to stay 'in the way' because they need to maintain LRC to make their destination - what about us?. .This problem is not only confined to this route, of course, but with the Indian ATC 'system', it will continue to be a problem.. .The other day, we were at the holding point, prior to t/o, right behind a 767, going out on the same airway, and on the same route clearance as us, so we requested priority ahead for t/o, to get ahead, even though the 767 has a significantly better climb performance, because, in part, because we have to carry that extra fuel, and the ATC did not really understand what we were on about, thought we were just trying to simply 'get ahead' for the sake of it!. .As the old saying goes, it's hard to fly with the eagles when you have to deal with turkeys! (or something!). .comments?. .Cheers.