Originally Posted by
Zenofzin
There’s no easy fix I’m sure, but I recently had a dispatcher on the jumpseat and the reasons he told us guys were refusing planes were amazing, like no acars for example. I had an fo from Denver to pdx who thought we should refuse the plane because our APU was on MEL, another with apubleed MEL thought we should refuse the plane because of light snow at the airport. I spent 5 years flying a plane with no APU in some pretty sh&t weather. Nobody is asking anyone to risk safety and our company always stresses safety above all else. But Jesus there a reason we carry an MEL
Like everything else with the FAA, the MEL is regulatory to a minimum standard and has nothing to do with safety. After something happens the minimum standard may be adjusted usually at the suggestion of the NTSB. Until then the CAPTAIN has the ability to raise the standard above the minimum when required.