Recently, at FL430 M.91, while crossing back into Canada from the Glasgow (GGW) VOR in NE Montana, we made a first call to Winnipeg Center who said:
"At Edmonton's request, slow to Mach decimal 89."
We did. Shortly after, we were handed off to Edmonton Center and a pleasant lady's voice said:
"Slow to Mach decimal 82."
I was on the other radio as the FO took the call and started to slow. Going out on a limb, I made a polite call back and said:
"Ahhhh (humbly, and with respect) this is just an idea Ma'am... but given that we were just doing Mach .91, 510 true knots, and pushing only 20 kts of wind, could we please rethink the idea about slowing us almost 300 NM back from destination for a potential
VUCAN conflict? I wonder if there something more efficient for everybody involved."
Transmission complete, I quickly realized it was a loaded and somewhat pompous question with the possibility of producing many "interesting" responses.
If we were in conflict with anybody below, even those 50 miles ahead, they were doing around M.78, pushing 70 knots of wind, and not real contenders for VUCAN. However, I also knew that I didn't have the complete traffic picture. Her potential conflict could have been another Calgary arrival from a different direction.
Furthermore, my
ad hoc suggestion was made somewhat impulsively and I was a little wary of the inevitable response. I gave a suspicious look. The guy I was flying with had a startled demeanor and mumbled: "Oh man, you're in trouble."
Surely, everybody on the frequency had a different reaction when we heard a sultry:
"Citation X: After looking at you again, let her run at Mach decimal 91 and we'll see how it works out."
I asked for a slow decent so that we could increase to 530 knots true. While decending, I also needed her permission to level off in order to avoid increasing headwinds. She obliged me the whole way down and as we got closer I saw that she would have her desired separation at the fix.
As fate would have it, the conflicting traffic was from another direction and not part of my initial scenario. Nonetheless, I suavely keyed the microphone and said:
"Edmonton Center: How's the speed looking?"
She responded with:
"Citation X: Speed's looking good. Keep it up. Contact Calgary Arrival on 25.9. And let this be a lesson to all of you who think a woman will never compromise."
I thanked her for exemplary customer service, and quickly switched to arrival.
