Some of you non-777 folks may have blown past the 777 fleet update from JH on the front page of PFC. Kind of an interesting read.
I read the first couple of paragraphs with the extensive praise heaped on us all. Intermixed with that is a discussion of our transition to Domestic Flag ops and how (in his opinion) that has changed the Captain's role in fuel planning. It was impossible to read this lead up to his real point without wondering when the other shoe was going to drop and what he was really getting at.
When he finally got there, I had to laugh. Because we've transitioned the company to Flag ops
(how long ago was that? 5 years maybe?), we're now going to consider fuel uploads to be either safety related or a way to mitigate the "business risk". More importantly, the business risk decision making responsibility now lies primarily with the dispatcher as opposed to the Captain. In other words, if the gas on your flight plan complies with the FARs, then it's safe. Anything you want to add on top of that to increase the odds of a successful landing at your intended destination may be denied by dispatch if they are willing to accept a divert as the price of doing business now and then.
If the switch to Domestic Flag has had such a profound impact on the Captain’s role in fuel planning, one would think this whole philosophical discussion on adding fuel would have come up sooner........ rather than the very same month we implement a new fuel policy.
