Trade-Offs

“Given the ATIS (automatic terminal information service) other conditions and our drive to operate as efficiently as possible, we [the flight crew] planned for takeoff from runway beginning and [to] have the full runway available, … [which] allows us to use maximum engine thrust derate, which is cheaper in fuel and engine wear.

“Fifteen minutes behind our departure schedule, we started the pushback … with many passengers that had onward connections at our destination. Initially, we lost time because we were missing a passenger, so luggage had to be offloaded. Next, we had an aircraft [stopped] behind us [on the ramp] with some technical problems, which caused a further delay of seven minutes before we could finally push back.

“We were approaching the runway, and we had one aircraft ahead of us. Our senior purser reported ‘cabin ready’ shortly before we arrived at the runway holding area. Approaching the runway, the ‘before takeoff’ …