Qantas 787
Totally agree.
Every Captain is highly skilled & trained. However they are handcuffed by policy written into manuals. They don't and are restricted by making on the hop decisions. If its not in policy. The easiest decision is to defer the decision to another department.
Give the Captains the authority to make those extra decisions on the run and abolish all the extra staff in support roles.
Every Captain is;
A fuel conservation manager
An ATC liaison manager
A people relations human resources manager
A deputy fleet manager
A deputy training manager
A cabin crew manager
A deputy airport manager
A customer support manager.
Get rid of all those support hangar on'ers. Give the line staff the authority and flexibility to make those extra decisions on the hop & provide feedback only when escalation or no resolution ocurs.
At the moment everything is expected to be reported. Which in turn requires more admin staff.
Cut costs and Improve engagement at the same time.