What I would like to see is better airmanship from F/O's. They are PF and so they decide the fuel. Their thinking is not educated. They've been brained washed in an unhealthy way. Plog = macho minimum. +330kgs allowed, we'll take it. Wx. bad so another 300kgs. That's it. So one day I listened to this guessimation and then I said 1500kgs more. Wow, their eyes exploded. So we sat down and did the caluclations of what we wanted to do. Hold here for X ins, make 2 approaches, divert there, hold there for Y mins and then land with 30 mins. Guess what; 1500kgs extra. Eyes wide open. "Are we allowed to do that?" "On this flight we are!"
Next year these guys are going to be captains. 4 stripes don't always make a captain. It's what's on the inside that counts. not the outside. OK; 10 years experience takes 10 years, but a lot more can be done to educate before the 4th stripe is given. There's a danger of too many trained monkies flying around. Also, too many times I hear, "yesterday we did this and it worked out." So no need to assess today as a different day, then?
One day......................................