and that's the part that bean-counters and KPI-obsessed pilot managers don't get!
I once flew for an outfit where the bean counters were OBSESSED with average fuel burns. Have a figure below the fleet average and you were a top bloke but, have a figure above the average and you could eventually expect to be called in for a cup of tea. Mistake number 1, their not understanding how averages are arrived at!!!
Now, we used to fly from A to B and where B would close at a moment's notice (no NOTAMS to that effect) for VIP movements. Aircraft had been sent around from 500 ft on finals in these circumstances and ended up diverting 'cos they couldn't hold until B re-opened.
I soon learned and regularly began carrying an extra tonne or two "just in case". On a considerable number of occasions B closed because of "VIP movements" however I was able to hold for the 30 minutes or so it needed before landing. It was without exception that parallel company flights couldn't hold and diverted.
It wasn't long before I was called in for the "cup of tea" to explain why my average burn was above the fleet average. I told them my average was exactly that, my average, and then asked them the following:-
a) what were the comparative burns in my getting from A to B compared to those that couldn't hold and diverted to C before eventually returning to B? It was generally around 4 - 5 tonnes less for me compared to the aircraft that diverted.
b) how big a disadvantage to the schedule was my being 30 - 40 minutes late on the blocks at B compared to the disadvantage of the aircraft that diverted being at least 2, sometimes 3, hours late in landing at B? Stunned silence was the usual response - bean counters seem incapable in considering that.
The bean counter wallahs could not comprehend that, despite my personal average hourly burn being more than that of the aircraft that diverted, they were better off because I'd simply burnt several tonnes less in getting the aircraft to B than those other aircraft. I was left with the impression that I could have burnt tonnes and tonnes more fuel without question as long as it was at a rate below the fleet average. WTF!!!!!
In the end I argued my position over and over in the vain hope they'd see the logic but, to no avail - you see, average burn was paramount!!! Ultimately it all got too hard for them (not being able to ride roughshod over an individual) and I was never called in again despite my not altering my practice and probably still having an over the average fuel burn rate.
As was said by someone else,
and that's the part that bean-counters and KPI-obsessed pilot managers don't get!
And, sadly, they never will.