Worst I have seen at MEL was sitting at Q hold point for 27, Virgin 737 called ready just before us when he was turning from A into E. We sat there waiting at the 737 taxied down E, was given a a take off clearance, by the time we lined up we had to wait for a landing aircraft on 16. We could have got airborne, by the time Virgin lined up.
Another thing that annoys me at MEL is the WENDY arrival for 27, I've had numerous times where after crossing KEELA at 6000, I cannot get descent due to congestion on the radio. On once instance we were at 6000 at ROCEL, I requested to continue heading east for extra track miles to enable descent, ATC replied NEGATIVE due to the SEQUENCE, we turned and did a very messy approach ending up having to cross the centreline and intercept from the north, unprofessional and unsafe and nearly unstable.
My fix is to now anticipate not getting descent and slowing to around 180 kts passing NOMID (instead of 230 kts) to enable a safe and stable descent when I finally do get to descend.
Last edited by MrWooby; 16th Dec 2016 at 00:39.