Private studies done by some of the crews at Dubai APP has finally proven that aircraft on the ground burn less fuel than aircraft holding. Also that it is less human resource intensive to manage a 15 000FT+ holding stack than to tell an aircraft to standby start. There are some very capable APP crews at Dubai but some that are downright incompetent. I think (pray hope) that they know who they are. Not that I expect any improvement. They are completely untouchable and this survey will probably end up in File 13 if the outcome doesn't meet the expectations.
So a big
to those crews at APP where pre-planning and "Air Traffic Management" actually takes place during a shift. As for the bad apples
Asbestos flame suit - check;
Full body armour - check;
Rhino skin active - check.