Yep!!!
Ashling,
You speak with great wisdom!!! Yep, the airplane is our jobs. The longer it lasts, the better off we are. The cheaper it operates, the better off we are.
I used to try to explain to the 'new guys' this way:
Our company manufactures widgets. We have a big plant, and in it are many widget machines. These machines are expensive to purchase, expensive to maintain, and finicky to operate.
And, the widgets, thenselves, sell for a price only pennies above the cost to produce. So, we have to crank out as many as possible in any given day. (Hence, good aircraft utilization with good load factors.)
It's important that we, the widget machine operators, treat the machine with kid gloves. We know better than anyone how to baby the machine, to make it last, to make it produce the most widgets in a work shift, in a machine's lifetime.
If we fill in all the above squares, the bean counters will be pleasantly surprised...and will happily replace the widget machine when its life has expired...and gladly train the operator on the new state-of-the-art widget machine that replaces the old one.
And, the bean counters will buy more widget machines...and cram them into the factory building, since these machines make a profit for the firm...and they'll hire and train new operators to operate these machines...and you'll gain seniority...and more pay and benefits...and vacation, etc., and job security.
So, it's important to save 30 seconds of flight time by going to the trouble of asking ATC for 'direct' or doing a slow-speed, thrust-idle descent...using your skill and experience to plan the descent so you don't touch the thrust until 1000 feet (500 feet VMC), working out the flaps at the prescribed speeds (since you so well planned the descent in the first place). And, you make a nice touchdown using the proper reverse and braking procedures to minimize brake wear.
You all get the idea...
Happy customers, minimal costs, keeping that widget machine going and going, because you baby it.
A result, job security, good pay, profitable business. Fast upgrades for the F/Os. (The bean counters purchase more widget machines.)
Or, the other side of the coin...If we had to, ourselves, pay for flap repair, brake replacement, fuel, etc., we'd operate a little differently.
The funny thing...we are paying for it, ourselves...just not directly and not obviously. But, we are paying for it.... Yep, we sure are!
PantLoad