You misread my other post. I did not say pilots were having problems, I said they were in discussion with the company about possible diversion.
You carry 30 mins more fuel than I do, as I usually plan;
Route burn
Contingency (% or ERA)
Diversion
Reserve (30mins)
Taxi
Now, as the reserve is the legal minimum, then the only fuel carried "spare" is the contingency, planned remaining is therefore the reserve plus unused contingency. Reserve fuel is not considered "holding fuel at alternate" or anything else other than what *must* be in the tanks on landing.
There is no problem adding extra fuel if the ETA is a busy time at the destination and vectoring/holding can reasonably be expected, or CAT3 conditions are forecast or any one of a number or reasons left to the pilot's discretion but we don't regularly carry holding fuel we don't use, that's one of the things the contigency fuel is for.
Arriving at destination holding fix with all the contigency and (commercial alternate) diversion fuel available, it makes sense to talk to the company and see where they might like us to go when ATC announce, without notice, a runway closure that indicates landing with the contigency all used up in a 25 minute hold.
To always carry another 30 minutes of fuel around is commercial madness, it is surely better to suffer the odd (rare) fuel diversion than to burn fuel carrying the stuff around?