Anyone who relies on them is living in fantasyland, or possibly Canberra.
Welllllll, sorry old mate, I guess I live in fantasy land (coz I'm not in Canberra)
When I started in ATC a 737 cruised at .76 to .78 everyday. A 747 cruised at .84 everyday. A 767 cruised at .80..................everyday. An A320? (who the f@ck knows what those things are doing at any point in time?). And they all climbed at 300 to 320 its.
It's only in the last couple of years that all this econ bull**** came into vogue. I can sit at the radar screen and literally see who's getting a self induced shafting because some tool thinks it saves money. I have in the past said 'Mate, if you fly that speed in the cruise you are looking at a 10 minute delay, profile, 0 minute delay'
Meanwhile aircraft that aren't flying econ bull**** are leapfrogging you in the sequence because of your time at the feeder fix. Send your dead**** MBA's down to a centre for just one day to sit with the flow or a sector that feeds onto an arrivals sector
Memo to dead**** MBA: It's all about your time at the fix.
Further memo to dead**** MBA: The only time your econ speed is going to work is at around 4am into Launy (that will go over the MBA's head so you pilot types better explain it to him/her).
Meanwhile, back at the screen. Figures are sent to ASA from the company that dictate a range of speeds their aircraft will fly all the way to the threshold.
If you plan and fly something different it has the potential to get nasty for the ATC. I'm not saying you all are going to crash and burn because it
WILL get picked up. But a bit of professional courtesy can save your friendly ATC from a little 'holiday' and un-favourable comments being inserted on their record. And it will ensure that your 'friendly ATC' stays friendly.
I re-iterate, we are not checking every flight plan that comes through to the console. We don't keep your flight plan on a lapboard tied to our thighs and refer to it to update estimates.