120.4
I would EXPECT my crews, in that situation, to continue on plan, contact our OPS and discuss an alternate, and leave WILLO for, say, Bournemouth, Cardiff or Stansted for a 'splash-and-dash' BEFORE they run below minimum fuel - having EXPECTED a delay of up to 20 minutes and monitored the actual with ATC. NB If you divert from the hold, before you commence an approach with minimum flight-plan fuel, you should NOT arrive at diversion in an emergency. If a last-minute fuel problem develops - ie some fuel suddenly becomes 'unusable' (like what we like to call the BA 3-engine ferry :-))) ) then a MAYDAY is, of course, required.
Like folk say, we do NOT know the whole story here, and are in fact basing it on one post by 'Cobbler' - "I heard". I guess it is the APPARENT suddeness of the onset of the Dire Emergency that has gotten this PPRune attention.
For good o' 411A on his bandwagon again - you know and I know that the results of any 'enquiry' into this will be for the operator and the authority alone to know. Even in the good old US this would not be a 'public' issue. Any disciplinary action/retraining - IF NECESSARY - will be conducted by the operator to the satisfaction of the authority. OK?