Hiya,
How long is a piece of string!!!!
When do I ask you to hold out?
Well, I try to guess what approach are doing with holds, numbers in the stacks etc, then I try to work out an order for the traffic from all different directions then I count to find out where it stops working. A good controller/co-ordinator should be doing that asap, but of course Murphy's Law says that you will be busy doing other things. Especially for the co-ordinator, who might be trying to keep on top of SE too, and to be honest, I suppose we are sometimes our worst enemies by not splitting either sectors or co-ordinator.
When we ask you to bring it on, we usually like it as soon as possible, because we are usually trying to keep the sequence happening. For instance, we will rarely hold Gatwick inbound that come through Midlands because it causes no end of trouble, and the holds are miles and miles away. We will vector and use GWC if necessary. But we try at all times to be fair to the planes and keep them in order. But we accept that it will cause issues for you too, and that you have to work out how to achieve what we ask, and to be honest, most co-ordinators would take this into account when we ask for the traffic to come on. Because we have to fit more than one stream of traffic together, the sooner the better.
I'll be interested in the Pilot responses to the holding out, and anyone else's views.
I will consider ways we can all get the full picture, however Liaison visits would definitely help, as I'm sure there are things we at TC could learn to help you guys too.
Cheers, and well done for asking.
N
"Keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you're up to..."