New company policy has decided it is not stable . We are New company policy has decided it is not stable . We are expected to fly ODPs as if we had autothrottles and vnav because according to the company, if you dive and drive to simplify the arrival, the lag time to start the next descent may leave you too high to cross the next gate 5 miles ahead.

I actually like flying ODPs. It gives me a satisfying feeling to navigate a long ODP without vnav and hit each point smoothly. What I don't like about them is they present plenty of opportunities that can put my certificate in jeopardy. If a tailwind picks up or a controller has given me a speed change that makes me recalculate the descent and I get off of the ODP slightly, it can be nerve racking to try to catch back up with it. If instead a controller gave me vectors and manually descended me, and I am not exactly at the point the controller wanted, that is their problem and they will have to move traffic out of the way. Having a controller descend you gives you a little more wiggle room and an ODP does not.

And for the controllers out there if you know you are going to give me a descend via clearance, please tell me as soon as I check in. There are a few places where the controllers wait until you pass the planned descent point to make the first restriction before telling you to descend via.