Rainboe I very much doubt if they want an engineer at every station as you say as engineers also have families, I have no pilot training and would never assume to tell you when to fly in an operational sense so why you would be able to tell whether an A/C is fit to fly is beyond me! ok if certain defects are obvious and not within the MEL then its a no brainer anything more complex and outwith this should not be any pilots decision indeed that is why the MEL is there, to state that the federation of aircraft mechanics are trying to maintain standards to get a pay rise is unfortunately an endemic way of life today. Sir the comment is beneath you.