Narrative:

I was flying aircraft X to iah and routed on the ttoro 3 arrival (sequenced to 8R). We had been cleared to descend to an intermediate altitude and then we were flying past the top of descent so we asked for lower. The controller said it would be a minute; so I began deceleration to maintain profile. He then changed us to another controller and the new controller gave us direct mport and lower altitude with a 310 speed. Keep in mind it is VFR and no surrounding weather. Mport is not on the ttoro 3 and we asked about the fix and he apologized and said we were cleared direct mport and the gusher 3; cleared to descend via. So the airplane is way behind profile now; we're asking for a spelling of mport so we can get it in the box; and get the arrival plugged in so we can accelerate and descend to get on profile. This is ridiculous.ok; so now we can see we are on profile and we need to change the runway to 8L (gusher 3 preferred runway). Now we're re-briefing the altitudes for the gusher and briefing 8L while rejoining the profile from above. Now we get switched to TRACON and he says to expect 8R.switch the box again to program 8R; ensure it loads properly; first officer is heads down again. On vectors now; new controller; cleared direct dploy. As we get closer to final approach course; we're expecting clearance to final/approach clearance. We catch a blocked transmission with just '8R' at the end and the first officer states 'blocked' on the radio.so the controller states; 'it doesn't help when somebody says 'blocked'; aircraft X is cleared for ILS 8R cross reign at 4;000.'so the first officer reads back and we fly the approach. The controller then gives another clearance to aircraft Y that is a blocked transmission.the controller states; 'who said 'blocked?' aircraft Y states that they did.the controller states; 'aircraft Y blocked is cleared ILS 8R....'apparently this controller doesn't understand that when we miss calls due to a block that we let him know cause we're driving the jet through the final approach course waiting for him to figure out that his transmission was blocked.if they want to change arrivals; it should be done when we are still in cruise; like every other airport in the country does. When you check in with approach you get your assigned runway; it's really that simple.when an approach controller doesn't understand that when we say 'blocked' it's usually because his transmission is blocked to us and we need to start turning the jet; he/she probably needs retraining.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reported concerns with last minute runway changes during approach to HOU airport.

Narrative: I was flying Aircraft X to IAH and routed on the TTORO 3 arrival (sequenced to 8R). We had been cleared to descend to an intermediate altitude and then we were flying past the top of descent so we asked for lower. The controller said it would be a minute; so I began deceleration to maintain profile. He then changed us to another controller and the new controller gave us direct MPORT and lower altitude with a 310 speed. Keep in mind it is VFR and no surrounding weather. MPORT is not on the TTORO 3 and we asked about the fix and he apologized and said we were cleared direct MPORT and the GUSHER 3; cleared to descend via. So the airplane is way behind profile now; we're asking for a spelling of MPORT so we can get it in the box; and get the arrival plugged in so we can accelerate and descend to get on profile. This is ridiculous.Ok; so now we can see we are on profile and we need to change the runway to 8L (GUSHER 3 preferred runway). Now we're re-briefing the altitudes for the GUSHER and briefing 8L while rejoining the profile from above. Now we get switched to TRACON and he says to expect 8R.Switch the box again to program 8R; ensure it loads properly; FO is heads down again. On vectors now; new controller; cleared direct DPLOY. As we get closer to final approach course; we're expecting clearance to final/approach clearance. We catch a blocked transmission with just '8R' at the end and the FO states 'blocked' on the radio.So the controller states; 'It doesn't help when somebody says 'blocked'; Aircraft X is cleared for ILS 8R cross REIGN at 4;000.'So the FO reads back and we fly the approach. The controller then gives another clearance to Aircraft Y that is a blocked transmission.The controller states; 'Who said 'blocked?' Aircraft Y states that they did.The controller states; 'Aircraft Y Blocked is cleared ILS 8R....'Apparently this controller doesn't understand that when we miss calls due to a block that we let him know cause we're driving the jet through the final approach course waiting for him to figure out that his transmission was blocked.If they want to change arrivals; it should be done when we are still in cruise; like every other airport in the country does. When you check in with approach you get your assigned runway; it's really that simple.When an approach controller doesn't understand that when we say 'blocked' it's usually because his transmission is blocked to us and we need to start turning the jet; he/she probably needs retraining.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.