Originally Posted by
Seeburg220
Tony - if you have a "side" I missed it, as you're contradicting yourself:
I have no problems with crews announcing their non-standard speeds (or speed changes) then:
I don't feel compelled to tell folks in SLC what speed I'm going to use. They should be intimately familiar with our planes then back to:
If the pilot is gunna do something weird with speed, tell the controller.
So which is it?
It's both. I agree with you, pilots should confess non-standard speeds. But, at a place like SLC where our company operates 100's of aircraft per day, I'm not going to tell them "Uh, center, I'm gunna descend at the same ole 320kts that we all do", however if I decide to do 250kts, sure, tell 'em you're going slow.
And what exactly is "weird with speed"? ..........Why is it, 10,15,19 years ago, this was rarely a problem? Yes the gas is higher now, and the planes act differently.
There was, and is, very few of the really slow jets in the "old days" that you I and worked ATC. The slotations and Bae146's were, and are very small in numbers and use compared to every "real" jet. Sure, a loaded 727 couldn't climb worth a crap, but it could haul the bacon.
I left the center 10 years ago, so I never got to work small RJ's. In the approach, they're all the same at 250kts or less. While I can see the slower RJ's being an added pain in the butt, it's not so much different than a B737-200 or DC-9 and a B747 of yore. Heck, we didn't even let the C500's and BA46's above FL230 !!!
I venture to guess you don't fly East of the Mississippi a lot. I'll have the same airline going to the same airport at the same altitude in the same airplane, doing completely different mach numbers - .68 and .76... I have given up trying to figure it out, that's why I just asked to have a little help from the pilots. If you don't want to help, that's fine. I'll keep 'em apart like I have been doing all along...I've said my peace, goodbye.
I don't have any insight to help you with operators flying widely different speeds. But you admit that you're aware of the issue, and you have the control to not make it a problem. Your looking for condolences here, but once again, I recommend slapping a speed on 'em. Spare yourself the agony / embarrassment / loss of pay with a deal.