FrequentSLF (and others)
I am happy to use reduced thrust whenever it is available. Treat the engines with a little TLC and they will serve you well.
As many have said, the CORRECT reduced thrust does not reduce safety.
We are assuming that some sort of Flex Thrust error caused EK's problem and that the repairs will be expensive individually for EK. You have to compare this with the global savings made by using Flex/De-rate on a daily basis.
[ Compare the useful life of an F1 engine (maybe 1000 miles/6 hours) with that of a well driven taxi (maybe 250,000miles/10,000 hours) and you may see my point of view.
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