At the risk of repeating myself - I will repeat myself.
Firstly let's all agree what the priority is here. Is it safety? Or is it getting as many aircraft as possible on the ground per hour and minimising fuel consumption?
Do not kid yourselves it is the former. We are all allowing the safety margins to be steadily eroded in the interests of the commercial imperative to maximise revenue and minimise costs. When I say "we", I mean pilots, controllers, airline managers, the CAA and the politicians that entrust them with the management of airspace and aviation.
Surely we can all see what is really going on? The bean-counters are prevailing and the experts - the pilots and controllers - are losing the argument.
I will stick my neck out here and nail my colours to the mast. It is time to reverse the trend - increase a/c spacing minima on final to 4 miles and carry at least 30 mins contingency fuel above and beyond the diversion reserve. Let safety come first for once and s*d the cost. We will all have to pay a little more for the privilege of flying - but at least we will have a safe operation at LHR.
Anybody know why the Herald of Free Enterprise rolled over?
Because a Finance Director mandated the sailing of ferries with open bow doors as it saved 20 minutes per turnround and made the company an extra £700,000 profit per year.
Anybody know why the Challenger Shuttle disaster happened?
Because the managers and politicians won the argument and the launch went ahead against the better judgement of the engineers who suspected the o-rings would not function properly and exhaust gas blow-out was likely.
Anybody know why the Hatfield rail crash happened?
Work it out for yourself.