shlittlenellie and Bono Vox,
If ATC requested the guy to do 280, then why all your usual talk of uncontrolled airspace and minimal time gain?? They ask him for a reason. And there could easily be many many trackmiles to go, when descending below level 100.
I see this behavior often with BA and Air France when they approach my home port. Irritates me, not because I might arrive 2 min. later if getting stuck behind one of them, but because of the situation they sometimes unnecessarily put the controller in.