New Kid in town
What we are witnessing here is classic corporate politics of the expatriate kind. BM (Manager Regulatory Affairs) retired earlier in the year and we now have a new kid on the block who is trying to make his mark and ingratiate himself to his superiors by finding loopholes in the CARS. If he can show that it saves money he will be on a fast track to SVP.
BM had been around for years and seen it all tried before. Last time the three crew thing was tried it was a disaster and there was only JFK to think about. At that time The Chief Pilot Airbus, who was new to the job, and trying to impress instructed the dispatchers to make all flight plans for JFK indicate a departure from 30R and arrival JFK 22L to make the flight times appear shorter regardless of prevailing conditions.
This whole plan will look great on paper but will become an an unmitigated disaster when put into practice with our average on time performance being around 70% within 15 minutes of scheduled OBT even without a runway closure.
To EK Pilots I say be very clear on your understanding of the FDP limitations regarding ULR and apply them intelligently.