The carriage of what is deemed to be "surplus fuel" has and always will be a vexed and much discussed issue. As well as holding the pilots accountable for the excess uplifted, does BA have a regime in place for the scientific and logical calculation of the estimated ZFW that is to be used for the initial FPL, and do they have standards in place that would call for a new FPL in the case of the est ZFW being more than a specified amount over or under? When the final ZFW is known, is there a procedure in place to determine why variations exceeding a certain number have occurred?
Should more accurate ZFW's were prepared at the planning stage, then surely one would see a reduction in the excess fuel carried? Isn't this about working smarter and giving all necessary confidence to the people who order the fuel and are ultimately accountable? Until standards are set and reviewed further along and up the food chain, the use of so-called "league tables" is an unfair practice.