RAT 5
Your question
Why not just let the pilot use the best mode for the job; or allow airlines to design their own SOP's within a/c design capabilities?
and you answered it yourself below:
I've flown for various airlines and come across plainly daft/unnecessary SOP's. I asked the question, Why this and Not that?. No reply, just a blank gaze.
That is why it is best left to the manufacturer or at least consult them before wringing in any changes. Nobody knows more about airbus than airbus. Ask them how and why by all means through your Flt. Ops. but don't be creative on your own. Curiosity may not kill the cat but it surely has killed or at least put in trouble some airbus pilots.
No more circling approaches! what is there to find out? An airline doesn't want to risk it or like the Indian DGCA simply doesn't permit it. That all. some pilots may have lost the thrill of doing it but isn't it a business after all? Company decides it.