Has anybody of you ever tried to fly regularly with "min fuel"?
I am working for a company which is encouraging us crews to use min t/o fuel as offen as possible if we feel satisfied with the overall conditions.
And guess what!!! It works.
In nearly 5 years of flying I only was once close to the point, where we had to consider opting for "commitment to stay", which is still a safe procedure.
The point is, and that is the way we handle it, you as the crew have to take into account the situation you will most possibly expect, and if you take extra, you just make a short comment about why. There is no sense in flying min fuel to FRA when approaching during the high season of the day. But most places (at least where we are operating to) usually have the potential of using min fuel procedure.
And another thing to mention, which seems pretty interesting, is the fact, that under certain conditions we are even flying without alternate. And this also works out quite well, but only with an experienced crew able to anticipate what to expect.
I thing, that the enroute alternate conditions in Western Europe gives us enough room to maneuver to give more considerations to the ecological as well as economical points. And as long as new procedures are implemented, which proof to be safe, I will do my very best to reduce the production of greenhouse gasses and to safe fuel.