Having just listened to that radio interview, I am slightly disappointed that it turned into a sabre rattling exercise. Whilst IALPA is right to point out that perhaps crews at Ryanair are under pressure, insinuating that planes are falling out of the sky because of Ryanair management decisions is garbage.
We are instructed, on non tankering sectors, that we can take PLOG +300kgs without explanation. Anything more has to be justified - in the cases of WX I have NEVER been asked to explain my extra fuel decisions.
If Steve McNamara is correct in his assertion that aircraft diverted, and then held for an hour in Valencia, and THEN had to call it in, I have sympathy for those pilots. How much are pilots expected to carry in these situations? 60 minutes? 90 minutes? Where is the line?
If Captains are being 'bullied' and 'cowed' into submission with their fuel decisions, then they need to grow some balls and stand up for the real time decisions they made on the line. If your not a smoking hole in the ground then that to me says you made a good decision.