STARs
Guys, I absolutely take my hat off to all of you for all the info I am picking up here and the "yes and no's " to my questions. This is so informative - thanks a million.
These are things I would never learn from my books.
Looks like I am seeing different experiences and angles from both pilots and ATC officers on how they handle the STARs.
So, it is advisable not to load the STARs prior to departure for several reasons ( e.g. FMC/Datalink comparison, changes from ATC and airmanship) and only load it enroute when given. But as Nil defects has pointed out you can always load RTE 2 into the FMC if a different one is given. I guess it all depends on company SOPs or preference ?
Please continue if there are anymore as I am writing all of these down.
Pilots can fly the STARs but in most respects I don't know how ATC works and this surely gives me a picture on the controllers side too.
8 Ball