Originally Posted by BOAC
Scott - as usual a thorough analysis, but I'm not clear whether this a response to post #1 or later ones?
To answer on my points - IF we were given the restrictions with the descent clearance our lives would be easier.
My 'contingency' figures were what I used against what the PLOG calculates as the airline 'minimum', and quoted only to show the significance of the early descents.
There is still a need for airlines (I refer to UK - I have no experience of the US) to have some way of predicting non-economic and fuel wasting UK descent profiles, and as I have said to those who kindly responded with information by PM, I now consider this to be of enough relevance to 'safety' as to warrant an approach to CHIRP in the hope they can communicate with SRG (ATC) to try and get some BASIC idea of descent gates into our planning system (Jeppesen in my case). EXACT altitudes are not needed, and can, indeed, change on a day-to-day basis if need-be, but we need some idea of where top of descent is going to be.
Edit to add I have raised a query through Chirp
Hi BOAC;
We in ATC still work most everything in the short term. If we were to try to just fit everything in with the long term outlook, we would hamper the system with undo restrictions. In the US we fill the bag to full just a bit more than they normally do in Europe, and this is why you see a lot of vectoring about and speed control in trying to make everything fit, as well as many intermediate altitudes. We are just trying to be as flexible as possible without having to put in static restrictions that place a bigger burdeon on the airspace. About the best you are going to get out of most of our controllers if they have the time is to get expect lower in 30 miles. But, I doubt that is going to happen. We for the most part, expect flight crews to understand that whent hey get within about 200 miles of a major airport that they can expect vectoring, speed control and altitude changes to start getting in line for the sequence for that stream (know that there are normally at least four streams going to one airport with the way that we do it in the US.
The only thing that I can say of help to the pilot community is to not let the airlines short you on fuel. There are going to be days where you land with a lot more fuel than you needed, but unless you are willing to go to an alternate and take the time and wasted money of a divert, plan to carry some extra fuel. That is indeed the price of doing business...
Oh, there is also that ability for ALL flight crews to come and attend Communicating for Safety in Dallas <G>... I believe that it is 12 and 13 October this year...
regards
Scott