For
Seat 0a and any other interested non-UK operators, the document that you need to lay your hands on is from the Civil Aviation Authority Flight Operations Department known as Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) number 39/1998 and can be obtained either from the UK AIP or downloaded from the recently upgraded
NATS AIS website after registering. The gist of the text is that you are expected to be able to hold for 20 minutes without throwing your toys out of the cot, and that when you divert to LGW you don’t expect a straight line to a 5 mile final the moment you make the request.
Having spoken to cousin Nigel about this in the past it is clear that Big do not adhere to the guidance given in this AIC as a matter of policy. Their interpretation appears to be that contingency fuel is there for use as holding fuel and no extra is added. I understand from him that they still have a Captain’s ladder of who takes how much, although this is specifically censured by the Authority.
From a personal standpoint I can see little advantage in carrying less than the advised minimum fuel into major hubs, like LHR and LGW where official guidance has been provided. Many operators have a company reserve figure added into the planned fuel for example (to the best of my knowledge) Transavia add about 900kgs for any delays that might be experienced. The argument about fuel being burnt to carry extra fuel is a well hackneyed one, which although may come to a significant figure if imported from Singapore, adds up to a couple of drops on a extra tonne from MUC for instance. The fuel is still there for the next sector if you didn’t use it and if you did use it then you needed it! There are many controllers who find it difficult to understand how you can take off from Manchester and be short of fuel by the time you reach BNN! It is in short a false economy. For a company like Big, whose Ayling management policy is costing them £45,600 per hour in interest, I find this argument facile. I suggest it is the result of a parochial and introspective culture. One day one of your statistical possibilities is going to turn round and bite you on the tail.
For the Authority,
Mr Heathrow Director and the other service providers I strongly suggest that the policy of gentlemen’s reminders and friendly words of advice has failed to communicate the message. This will need to be promulgated as a Class A notam, so that operators have no choice but to stand up and take notice. We cannot allow the beancounters to mandate public transport aeroplanes operating into major terminals on critically low fuel states. The time has come for the establishment to weigh in on the side of prudence and responsibility.