I suppose. Although I'm not sure who that was directed at.

He said they were doing that, I said that was highly illegal and should be refused in all cases (the extent he was saying they would do it…I'm not talking about bumping the cost index to find 2 minutes on a 3 hour flight, as that *could* be legit) and he huffed and puffed and basically double dog dared us to challenge it because he apparently felt he had the weight of the company on his side.

I don't think any of that was the dispatch department coming up with anything on its own. Things like that are usually either directed or strongly implied from above. However I doubt it came from Flt Ops leadership.

We are running a great on time operation and running very thin at the same time. That is a classic standing threat if ever there was one. There will be some amount of pilot pushing at any company. The point is watch your back, check their work and if its not right (or realistic) expand your team and protect yourself. At the end of the day, you're protecting the company as well in doing so.