Rainboe:
Please note that the 1000' gate is a vertical profile gate and it does not require you to be aligned with the c/l. Similarly for the "hard" 500' gate.
Regarding lateral displacement, I think other fleets are similar to mine in that you are required to be aligned at 300'. It is up to you do judge accordingly, but these SOPs certainly permit a runway switch in VMC.
You will not receive a SESMA call for LOC deviation for a runway switch - it does happen and the SESMA rep will not waste the BALPA rep's (or the crews') time for a simple manoevre such as a r/w switch unless he needs feedback to help explain the trace or there were further issues - it is normally obvious from the trace that was what happened and this situation would be recorded as "Normal Operation".
Hope this shows that things are more sensible and leave you more free to make decisions than you thought?
Last edited by NW1; 7th Nov 2007 at 10:33.