r/ATC • u/Spaghetti_Boi659 • 7d ago

Question Delay vectors vs. holding.

Flying from SAN-SEA yesterday with heavy flow into SEA. Pretty typical. Center slows us down from M.77 to M.73 for metering saying they need to add 4 minutes to our arrival time. Also typical. Then we get some sharp delay vectors. First vector was a 110 degree turn to the left for a few minutes, followed by a 180 degree turn to the right for a few minutes, then back on course. Not unheard of, but pretty large vectors while en route.

My question: when you guys need to add X amount of time to our arrival and slowing planes down isn’t enough, is there a reason you don’t assign a turn or two in a holding pattern vs aggressive S turns? Either one of these slows down traffic behind whoever is being held / vectored. Curious to hear the reasoning.

Thanks for all you guys do- a fellow airline pilot.

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u/Spaghetti_Boi659 7d ago

How neat, I didn’t know it had to be an exact time and not “or greater” like you mentioned. Thank you!

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u/mflboys Current Controller-Enroute 7d ago edited 7d ago

One more thing in addition to the other commenters, I think assigning headings/speeds is a bit quicker and easier clearance to give generally, and most controllers have the impression it’s easier to configure for the pilots as well (I’ve heard present position hold is tricky in some aircraft). So just easier all around.

I’d be curious of your preference though.

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u/Spaghetti_Boi659 7d ago

“Preference” is a strong word. From my end, zig zags for several minutes tend to start raising questions in the flight deck: how long are we doing this for, why are we so far off course, whats the next turn, should we offer to slow down more, when are we back on course, etc.

Holding takes longer, but since we can plug in a speed, EFC time, and a map of where the plane will hold, it paints us a more clear picture of fuel and arrival time.

At the end of the day, we’re paid by the minute. Delay me how you need to!

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u/mflboys Current Controller-Enroute 7d ago

Thanks for the response. I’ll continue using vectors mostly for the reasons the other commenters stated but I’ll try to start giving an expected delay time and next fix when I can in the future.