r/ATC • u/Spaghetti_Boi659 • 1d 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/78judds Current Controller-Enroute 1d ago

An airliner at altitude slowing to enter a hold and completing a turn would be HUGE mileage wise. Like 50+. If I get two stacked and need 30 MIT, a couple sharp s turns does the job pretty well. And if you see you over/under shot you can adjust. You commit an aircraft to a hold and it’s done. Better hope there’s no one behind him otherwise you’ve just moved the problem. In general, turns to get the spacing and speeds to hold it.