IAH ATC Is The Worse

[dnkt]

IAH ATC has to be the worse there is!!!! I love it when they postion and hold you on 15L/R for 10 minutes at a time. Or they decide to put 30 aircraft off of 15R and not use 15L. Or the spacing into IAH, they S turn you 20 times to get into IAH and slow to 250kts. And the new program they have in effect where ground contacts you instead of calling clearence. I've sat there for 20 minutes waiting for them to call me when i was number one on the whole airport. Why can't you guys work like ORD, EWR, or ATL? You guys suckkkkk.

 

[Say Again Over]

Wow, you are pretty upset, these people are highly trained individuals (and very understanding), why don't you instead of trading insults, give a Supervisor a call with some of your complaints, I'm sure they will get you some answers, good luck.

 

[samballs]

Ever been to CLE there can be one plane in their airspace and they will still make you fly a 15 mile final. Or when you land 24R and they hold you short of the left for 20 minutes so all the planes can take off, even though they could hurry you across. I HATE CLE.

 

[milkjuggler]

Or the Cincy restricted errr Bravo where you have to be at 15,000 or you will have to go all the way around the airspace. Nothing pisses me off more than controllers that think they're so busy they can't have a plane at 10,000 feet over the top of the field. I did aerial surveying near San Diego, New York and D.C. with planes firing off 500 feet below me and the controllers worked us in so we could get the job done. It boggles the mind.

 

[pilothouston123]

these guys are part of your team. to print you objections is the best way to make your self look bad.

 

[flatspin7]

I fly into and out of IAH an awful lot and while I dont think they are the best in the country (New York App, and Chicago App can move the planes), but I have found that IAH app is normally predicatable and rarely leaves you hanging out to dry.

The problem that they run into is during the summer they get a lot of fast moving storms that can really mess with their departure paths hence the 20 miles intrails.

If I were to complain about things that controllers do is stuff like putting you on a glide slope and keeping you at 250kts really stuggling to slow the airplane down, normally in the 737 when they do that you have the gear down very far out on final.

But going back to IAH most of what they do makes some degree of sense, but as pilots it can be difficult to get the big picture on the radar screen, and at times I feel that controllers dont fully understand the capabilities and limitations of the aircraft... but then again the word "unable" goes a long way!


And remember most of us get paid by the minute... so why the rush?

 

[Say Again Over]

It's a shame they don't join us on the jump seat more often, we all work together and it would be beneficial to both groups.

 

[Lear Wanna Be]

ATC sucks in general. It is not the controllers fault, but rather the institution. Heck, these days they just tell you to do what the computer tells them to tell you to do. I think controllers are professionals and in general pretty good people and they will usually work with you when able. What annoys me the most is when you know a controller is too lazy to pick-up the phone and get permission from the next guy. Sometimes they go the extra mile though. I had a guy at Chicago Approach get me clearance through a busy class D the other day, so I could shoot the visual at our airport that doesn't have an approach. Never had to talk to the tower...nice. Although, I know a controller or two that are with MSP Approach. I have been told that sometimes "Vectors for controller amusement" are not that uncommon.

With as expensive as fuel is these days and the fact that people seem to be becoming more environmentally aware, you would think that a more efficient ATC system could be developed. I find it totally ridiculous when I hear stories about guys at TEB that spend so much time at the end of the runway that they have to go back and re-fuel. At $20 a minute on the King Air 200, a few extra hours a year really hit the budget hard. It can't imagine how hard it is on jet operators.

 

[Say Again Over]

FWW, the U.S. ATC system is way better than anything else throughout the world, you won't really appeciate how good it is until you go out of the country.

 

[Lear Wanna Be]

S.A.O., I can totally buy that as long as you can buy that just because you are the best at something, doesn't mean you can't be better. Our system still has a long ways to go. Non-radar in so many areas. Not just out of the way places, but 40 miles north of SHV you will go non-radar below 8,000. I mean come on...SHV to LIT is not all that far. The examples about Cincinnati are another thing too. It was not all that long ago that they weren't even a Bravo. Then a few years ago they extended it up to 10,000. Now a VFR or IFR transition aircraft can't come anywhere near the place. Again, at $20 a minute it sure adds up. Millions and Millions of dollars and precious resources wasted due to an inefficient ATC system.