Fam. Flights
Sorry to hear these are less frequent. I remember one to Chicago pre 9/11 which couldn't have been better as an illustration of how we don't just sit up there are push a few buttons. Given that ORD is one of the busiest airports, this arrival was an absolute stonker. We had 3 changes of runway, speed reductions, increases ( 'No delay, speedbird' - meaning do it NOW! ) confusing phraseology, vectors all over the place, no questions allowed, a continual stream of RT, land and hold short etc. I'm not sure if this wasn't the time one of the reversers didn't deploy!
Anyway we took the ATC guy out for a drink that night and he admitted that he didn't expect to see such workload when attempting to land an aeroplane. It made of those years of grumbling about 'us underappreciated crews' and 'where is the flight manager when I need him' seem worthwhile.
To my American buddies - I'm not criticising the way you do it, given the traffic, weather, legalities etc - it's just different over here.
Cheers, Y