All,
I hope everyone is having a good week. I don’t have much this week, just a couple quick things. Firstly, as most of you know, my wife and I are having our first child at some point in the next month. I will be out for some time after that happens so I have reached out to Al Passero and he has agreed to make himself available for all rep related things. I think you all have his info already. Anyway, on to the update.
Blue Buttons
Please keep letting me know if this is going to be an issue for you. As I said last week, I have no idea if I can affect any change on this issue, but I need to know I have your backing before I can even try.
Cascade Restrictions
The temporary procedures we used for restrictions at EUG and MFR will become permanent some time in the near future. We might pursue adding a fix eventually but for now we will stick with the arc. You may have seen a few times where MFR ran aircraft up over SAMIE when they were showing a north flow. It is my understanding that that will happen less in the summer. However, if an aircraft from the south is direct SAMIE for and approach to 14 and MFR is in a North flow, my expectation is that MFR will approve them still descending. More on that as it happens.
Pilot Discussion
Below is a chopped up email exchange that Garret had with some Delta pilots about pilot workload when a controller issues a route change in combination with a holding clearance that includes a STAR transition that was not previously in the flight plan. I figured it might be interesting or useful to us so here it is:
Question:
Inbound to SEA, your currently assigned route is direct BTG.HAWKZ7.SEA (No transition). At some point, holding becomes necessary so the controller issues direct KNGDM with a clearance to "hold as published".
The published holding at KNGDM is built along the LMT transition. Since you were not previously on that transition, how much additional workload is this kind of clearance? Are there any other impacts?
Pilot 1 Answer:
Any time a hold clearance/arrival change is issued it cranks up the workload a notch since we now have to start thinking about divert (bingo) fuel calculations and coordinating with dispatch to compare numbers. If we are carrying lots of extra gas and it's a nice day in SEA then those calculations are not as pressing as say an oceanic flight coming back from HNL to do a CATIII in SEA. Also compounding things is the distance to hold fix. If we're only a few miles away, time compression can increase workload as opposed to getting a hold clearance 75 miles away when we're expecting it. And yet another factor is, have we already initiated descent? As soon as we start changing altitude then our attention is divided between managing the descent and changing the flight plan.
In the case you've provided let's say we're 50 miles west of LMT at cruising alt proceeding direct to BTG and we receive a clearance direct to KNGDM hold as published (eventually to be cleared on that transition). The crew will first have to get the spelling of the fix KNGDM (from chart or ATC) and get the aircraft pointed in that direction, then reprogram the entire arrival (a few button pushes and cross verifications; select DEP/ARR key, select the planned runway, the HAWKZ 7, LMT transition). That gets loaded and executed and becomes the active flight plan. Then we have to "clean up" the FMS because the initial direct to KNGDM is in the FMS, followed by a discontinuity, and then the entire arrival starting from LMT (with another KNGDM). It would look something like this:
KNGDM
.......
LMT
KNGDM
WRUSL
BTG
We then proceed direct to the second KNGDM and press HOLD and select KNGDM. We verify the inbound course, quadrant and all that and execute it. Now we're all set up. All the while that is happening we're preparing the cabin crew for descent, checking weather, and briefing arrival. With the hold in place we're also checking alternates and fuel numbers. In a prefect world the data entry takes two minutes but could be more like five considering the number of steps involved and other distractions from the cabin, weather, etc...
This would be specific to the 757/767 too, but most fleet types should be similar.
Pilot 2 Answer:
You may also get some crews who frequently fly in and out of SEA and this would be an easier or more anticipated event and process. So, an additional threat comes when the crew that hasn't flown into SEA in a long time gets this new clearance. With that in mind, it's likely best to assume some level of unfamiliarity. One way to mitigate it in my mind is like pilot 1 said - assign the clearance as early as possible. Another would be using phraseology to assist pilots in finding the waypoint on the procedure - IE - if possible, simply state that KNGDM is on the LMT transition. I would suggest an amended route clearance to the waypoint. THEN giving holding instructions. To me, this would mitigate most of the issues
Question:
Would it be easier if the controller issued a "present position" clearance instead?
Also, it sounds like if the LMT transition was already in your route that entering the published hold at KNGDM would be much simpler since it is associated with that procedure directly. Is that a good characterization?
Answer:
A present-position hold is okay, but again, fall back to what Ben said earlier with regard to workload of the crew at that time. If they're approaching the time when they descend or are already descending, there's great potential for distraction and confusion. It's a fairly easy FMC programming routine but when you add in the other potential activities, it can get dicey fast. Ideally, a hold at a fix at least a few minutes ahead of current flight path is best. I know this is often hard to assign given the dynamics of the TRACON and arrival rates, but most pilots don't unfortunately. Ben and I are working on educating!
Your characterization about flying published hold at KNGDM if already flying the LMT transition is spot-on, yes. Even an unfamiliar crew who is busy should be able to set up the holding pattern in this manner. And we always appreciate "speed your discretion" at beginning or end of the holding clearance even though it may seem obvious. This will give the crew even more time to program the FMC and put out any proverbial fires associated.
That’s it for this week. Oh and a special treat for those of you who read all the way to the bottom…Al Passero is definitely not going to be filling in for me as rep. I am sure he is enjoying his retirement just fine. Amy Sizemore will be filling in for me as rep while I am gone. I hope to only take two weeks around the due date (3/26). I’ll keep you all posted.
In Solidarity,
Drew