Jd, I fully understand that none of us on here will change your mind. However the attitude you portray, coming as it does from a professional pilot of some 40 years standing - no doubt in a very senior position, scares the absolute bejesus poo out of me.
a) as an experienced pilot you are advocating that all aircraft depart LHR without clarification of QNH.
b) as an experienced pilot you believe that mention of a single letter indicates readback of 3 or 4 easily misheard/misread/mistyped/etc numbers.
c) as an experienced pilot I have no doubt that your crm and procedures are excellent, but you ignore the fact that other pilots have had different training/experience/distractions/procedures/pressures/knoweledge/etc
d) as an experienced pilot you wish the removal of a procedure that only asks for three seconds of your time and may correct an error, to one where no cross-checking can be applied.
e) as as an experienced pilot you wish the removal of a procedure based on your own opinion that it hasn't aided safety and .... you know what? I could go on, i had another 3 points to make, but i won't bore anyone any longer. suffice it to say what really worries me is that, as i keep saying - an experienced pilot, bemoans the fact that he has to say 4 numbers, ONCE, taking up three seconds of his time. When i'm down the back with the other 300 odd people i'd much rather have a driver who will embrace all procedures that may even remotely help safety.
WonkyV