In those rather less advanced jet days, my Chief Pilot ( A long-haul man) wanted to know why his two short haul fleets regularly flew the same trajectories on a route even though the loads and atmospheric conditions might vary.
"Why don't they fly today's aircraft for today's conditions ?"
( One Captain could and did fly 10,000 ft. higher even on a one hour scheduled sector, if lightly loaded and cold. Others used the "Standard Flight Plan" regardless of the day's circumstances.)
The provision of a simple " Optimum Altitude " graph improved matters.
LT
Last edited by Linktrained; 24th Sep 2013 at 10:51.
Reason: jet