A319
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Company Policy; Human Factors; Procedure
Dispatching an aircraft with 5000 lbs remaining at destination is questionable at best. If we were to have a technical issue with the landing gear (for example); this would leave almost no time to troubleshoot before we were forced to land. The fact that; in reality; we landed with less than 4000 lbs while incurring no unforeseen delays would make such a flight not only ill advised; but downright dangerous. My suggestive corrective action is not to put minuscule fuel savings over the absolute safety of flight in everyday operations.
A319 Captain reported concern regarding low amount of fuel on board per flight plan.