Del Prado
Heathrow App quite often phone the TMA sectors and ask us to keep certain a/c high speed.
Until this 270kt 'advice' came out, there was no need for TC to then call AC and ask for certain aircraft at certain sppeds (or just simply ask for a/c a&b to be high speed) - they all usually came in like that anyways.
With the 270Kt 'advice' now here, maybe the TC N and TC S controllers will need to phone more often and ask the AC sectors to keep certain aircraft high speed... It's something that TC Capital quite often does to enable the streaming of 3 sets of traffic through VATON.
It's not been done before because it's not been an issue - if controllers now blindly follow the 270Kts advice then no doubt these telephone calls will increase.
As for CLN working in isolation etc - they have a radar, they can wind out and have a look at the holds, if there are only a couple of aircraft in each, then best practice would be to keep their front couple high speed - or certainly not bust a gut to get everything back to 270Kts.
The rule was thought up under the auspices of Vision 2011, allegedly by an office worker who has never been a valid ATCO nor worked in the Ops room... it's been jumped on as a good idea by people who want to be seen to be doing things 'green'.
It's not workable all the time and should not be blindly followed... remember the paragraph in MATS part 1 about (paraphrased) 'nothing in this manual shall prevent an ATCO from being allowed to do what they want if the situation merits it'?
If there is holding taking place then yes, 270Kts or less is good - at the moment when we have 15 mins delay we get a/c at 300Kts plus* - it's about educating all the controllers that a bit of thought about speed control might actually help - very much in the same way that they 250Kts outbound trial below FL100 in the LTMA, although mostly ignored, has made TC controllers think about which a/c they remove the speed restriction from on first contact instead of doing it with every aircraft which is what used to happen!
270Kts for everything is unworkable if it was a rule - it's not a rule, it's advice, any ATCO that would blindly follow it needs to think about the 'C' in ATCO i.e. they should take control.
* I know that sometimes this is the only way that A/C can be presented in a manner that gives TC a fighting chance - that's the whole point about this advice being flawed if followed blindly - controllers are paid to control, we are not sheep.
Over+Out
I don't think anyone that works in aviation will argue that Heathrow is bursting at the seams - it causes problems for the tower workers, the TMA and en-route workers. The only solution is to make Heathrow run at a lower %age of capacity in order to give it some breathing space and some flex.
The reason it is always flowed over the landing rate is again, for flexibility. The landing rate fluctuates - flowing for about a 10 min delay allows EGLL Dir to squeeze and extra aircraft or two in if the situation allows, thus helping maintain the overall %age of capacity use per day.
If Heathrow were to be capped at say 10% less capacity useage per day than at the moment, then no doubt it could be flowed for either the landing rate or even one or 2 below the landing rate... that's a slots and airline problem though, ATC just provide the best solution.
The overall result is a crap situation, for an overworked airfield, in an overworked piece of airspace - until the airlines start dropping slots, it will continue. Maybe the 'credit crunch' (used to be called a recession in my day) will help if the cost of fuel rises in the manner some people think it will.