Capt HP
As you said, we've been here b4! Everytime this gets going, I have to find that damn AIC and read it again... I have now dug it out, for the first time since we last conversed.
1. Just confirm you mean 36/1998 (not 39/1998 as you stated)
2. I am sorry, but I cannot see it says you need 20mins holding fuel + normal reserves.
3. The only ref to "20mins" is a clarification of what "No delay expected" means.
4. It actually states very clearly (para 6) what fuel you should plan to arrive overhead with. No mention of ANY allowance for holding (apart from the 30mins "final reserve").
5. Your <<it is clear that Big do not adhere to the guidance given in this AIC as a matter of policy>>. In fact Bigs fuel policy adheres exactly to para 6, but with the addition of "contingency". I am sure you are familiar with this - Big now has various types of contingency (5%, 15mins, 3% with ERA etc.), and something called "statistical contingency" that is so complicated that I cannot understand it... but it is still "some" extra fuel.
6. Big will normally use the contingency as "holding fuel" (say 15mins). We then have the ability to "commit" to LHR (provided Capt is happy and weather OK etc.) by binning the "diversion" element. This will invariably add another 30mins+. So provided the conditions are met to "commit", a BA aircraft will PLAN to arrive at LHR with 45mins holding fuel.
7. If the weather is outside limits for committing, then almost every Capt would be uploading extra fuel.
8. After much internal discussion, our rules were clarified to say that if the "route stats" (route and time of day) indicate that it is likely that the extra burn used historically for that route exceed contingency, then this difference should also be loaded...
Please do correct me if I have missed something in this AIC (such as page 2).
NoD