Right now we seem to be landing most of the time with about 40,000 lbs on board (747).
Blimey, that's about what, 18 tonnes
, or 2 hours fuel. We typically land with about 10-11 tonnes unless we're tankering for some reason (like Lagos, for example).
I'm interested to try to understand the thinking behind that fuel amount; is it company policy, price related, or is it loaded as a comfort factor?
We work on about 4.5 tonnes reserve (30 minutes fuel) + div + statistical contingency, and would shout 'mayday' if we know we will land with less than reserve, and 'pan' if we think we may.