[skydog]

By regulation, it's a joint responsibility. Agreement between the Captain and the dispatcher is required before a flight can operate. The dispatcher proposed a fuel load. The captain agreed with it. Things didn't quite go as planned, and now that captain wants to blame the dispatcher?

That said, there is generally a movement in the industry to reduce fuel loads to the minimum required for safe flight. It costs money to put fuel in the tanks, it costs money to haul fuel around, and it definitely costs money when payload is bumped in favor of fuel.

Flying on minimum fuel is not, in and of itself; unsafe. However, it does limit your options when things do not go as planned. A little bit of extra fuel can mean the difference between arriving safely at a destination, or arriving safely at the diversion airport. The goal, of course, is to reach the destination.