Originally Posted by sober lark
For most of those 30 years you mention Bergerie1, I'd imagine you enjoyed the independence to made your own decisions.
Make no mistake; ONLY the PIC makes the final decision with regards to an issue like this. Sure, Network Control or whatever any airline calls it can be contacted for INPUT. But... Commander makes the final decision! Same now as it would have been 30 years ago except now we have more tools to use and consult!