Hi there and sorry for butting in here as im not an ATCO or a pilot,
It seems that there is an awful lot of commercial pressure on both ATC and the guys in the cockpit to run the system as cost effectivly and efficiently as possible, (sorry if im repeating things here) and because of this, saftey is being compromised.
OK, long haul flight of say 15hrs, a super efficient fuel planner and soon to be out of date weather info and any other unexpected changes enroute leads to the aircraft being potentially very low on fuel on arrival at their destination, yes?
If the crew decide to add extra fuel on top of the calculated reserve for their flight and then they fail to use that extra fuel, is that fuel then wasted or can it not be removed and/or re-used?
Surely the airlines cannot justify any action against crews that add 'a bit extra' for longhaul flights when they - the crews - know that things could change quite considerably by the time they reach their destination and are just making sure saftey is NOT compromised, considering that these birds cary several hundred passengers.
It also seems as if ATC procedures are a little out dated with regard to declarations about the state of the aircraft, seems most ATCO's would appreciate the extra info ( i know i would if i was in that position
)
Again i apologise for entering into this topic but i thought you may like to hear an 'unproffesional' viewpoint.
I think you all do a fabulous job and i would much rather be flying than traveling any other way.
Kind regards
George