Narrative:

I witnessed something that I believe is a major safety concern in our area at ZHU. There was weather in the area and our arrival sequencing sector das 38 and izd 26 were shut off by I90 with no-notice holding. This happens far too often here at ZHU and I fear that it is going to make national attention by an aircraft falling through one of these massive and unnecessary holding patterns; before anything is done about it. Our supervisors have issues with this no-notice holding as well; however; I do not know how many of them have or will step forward to address it. I90 is the tail that wags the dog around here. They constantly modify our arrival crossing altitudes; switch primary arrival streams and force us into this no-notice holding for what appears to be no reason at all. It is my understanding from talking to our tmu that one airline actually dictates our flow here in houston. For example; if this company has more aircraft coming in from the north east they will tell the tower that they want to land to the west for the shorter final. The opposite arrival configuration is chosen when they have their volume loaded up on the west side of houston. This of course happens when the winds allow them to pick and choose their direction. What that causes in the enroute environment is no-notice holding and a complete disregard for the 7110.65; first come first served mantra. More importantly; there is little to no consideration given to the workload of the controllers they are putting into last minute holding status. Yesterday; quite literally; the I90 arrival east controller shouted over the loudspeaker (against protocol) that we were shut off. No operator initials were given and no chance to affirm the order. When the ZHU arrival controller called them back to find out what they had yelled it took a while to get them to answer. When they finally answered; the controller there said they are not taking any more arrivals (to include 3 that were too close in to their airspace to miss them without a point out). Between the high and low altitude sectors at ZHU (26 and 38) they were holding well over 20 aircraft; two of which had to divert due to the holding situation. I find it unconscionable that we at ZHU continue to allow I90 to shut us off for no reason other than flow direction. If our tmu and their tmc cannot effectively manage the flow rate so that we can all maintain an orderly enroute environment then something or someone needs to change. We need competent decisions down here in houston to minimize the impact on safety regarding these matters. For the record; the reported winds at the time of this no-notice holding call due to a runway change was approx 020 at 8kts meaning that they were turning the runway around so that they could land with a tail wind. Our tmu tells me that this company will often allow them to land with up to 12kts. A separate issue that I would like to report on for assessment is something that happened today. When I walked into work; I noticed that the sector 38 controller had written down that aircraft were to cross txmex at 12;000 (normally 14;000 on the STAR). This is a continuing problem with a flavor of the day crossing altitude that some of the tmcs at I90 are choosing to enact. The irony is that when a new group sits down to work at shift change; it always goes back to normal. I90 claims that it is due to a certain configuration and the fact that they cannot get them down. Keep in mind that we are feeding them on the northeast corner post and the configuration that they were on this afternoon was landing to the east. They have a very; very long time to descend these guys vs. When they land west. The only time I remember one of our oms standing up to I90 on this; by telling them no on their 12;000 restriction; I90 then came back in retaliation and said that we shall only use the das arrival so that all aircraft crossed at 13k on the STAR. This caused an excessive amount of re-clearingaircraft; questions from the pilots; confusion in general and an unacceptable degradation of service. Recommendation; I90 has more airspace than they can effectively work due to radar coverage issues on the northeast side. Whoever designed this airspace and chose these altitudes on the stars should be fired from making decisions of this scope. In the meanwhile; the one fix that I recommend is that a work group of controllers chosen by the union from ZHU and I90; as well as management representatives; meet and discuss these problems. Our local management has completely failed us in every way possible regarding this northeast corner post and the constant battles we have with I90.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZHU Controller voiced concern regarding the continuing problem with arrival flow management into I90; claiming procedures are changed frequently based solely on one company's preference; adding a controller work group needs to be implemented to resolve this issue.

Narrative: I witnessed something that I believe is a major safety concern in our area at ZHU. There was weather in the area and our arrival sequencing sector DAS 38 and IZD 26 were shut off by I90 with no-notice holding. This happens far too often here at ZHU and I fear that it is going to make national attention by an aircraft falling through one of these massive and unnecessary holding patterns; before anything is done about it. Our Supervisors have issues with this no-notice holding as well; however; I do not know how many of them have or will step forward to address it. I90 is the tail that wags the dog around here. They constantly modify our arrival crossing altitudes; switch primary arrival streams and force us into this no-notice holding for what appears to be no reason at all. It is my understanding from talking to our TMU that one airline actually dictates our flow here in Houston. For example; if this company has more aircraft coming in from the North East they will tell the tower that they want to land to the West for the shorter final. The opposite arrival configuration is chosen when they have their volume loaded up on the West side of Houston. This of course happens when the winds allow them to pick and choose their direction. What that causes in the enroute environment is no-notice holding and a complete disregard for the 7110.65; First Come First Served mantra. More importantly; there is little to no consideration given to the workload of the controllers they are putting into last minute holding status. Yesterday; quite literally; the I90 arrival East Controller shouted over the loudspeaker (against protocol) that we were shut off. No operator initials were given and no chance to affirm the order. When the ZHU arrival Controller called them back to find out what they had yelled it took a while to get them to answer. When they finally answered; the Controller there said they are not taking any more arrivals (to include 3 that were too close in to their airspace to miss them without a point out). Between the high and low altitude sectors at ZHU (26 and 38) they were holding well over 20 aircraft; two of which had to divert due to the holding situation. I find it unconscionable that we at ZHU continue to allow I90 to shut us off for no reason other than flow direction. If our TMU and their TMC cannot effectively manage the flow rate so that we can all maintain an orderly enroute environment then something or someone needs to change. We need competent decisions down here in Houston to minimize the impact on safety regarding these matters. For the record; the reported winds at the time of this no-notice holding call due to a runway change was approx 020 at 8kts meaning that they were turning the runway around so that they could land with a tail wind. Our TMU tells me that this company will often allow them to land with up to 12kts. A separate issue that I would like to report on for assessment is something that happened today. When I walked into work; I noticed that the sector 38 controller had written down that aircraft were to cross TXMEX at 12;000 (normally 14;000 on the STAR). This is a continuing problem with a flavor of the day crossing altitude that some of the TMCs at I90 are choosing to enact. The irony is that when a new group sits down to work at shift change; it always goes back to normal. I90 claims that it is due to a certain configuration and the fact that they cannot get them down. Keep in mind that we are feeding them on the NE corner post and the configuration that they were on this afternoon was landing to the EAST. They have a VERY; VERY long time to descend these guys vs. when they land West. The only time I remember one of our OMs standing up to I90 on this; by telling them no on their 12;000 restriction; I90 then came back in retaliation and said that we shall ONLY use the DAS arrival so that all aircraft crossed at 13k on the STAR. This caused an excessive amount of re-clearingaircraft; questions from the pilots; confusion in general and an unacceptable degradation of service. Recommendation; I90 has more airspace than they can effectively work due to RADAR coverage issues on the Northeast side. Whoever designed this airspace and chose these altitudes on the STARS should be fired from making decisions of this scope. In the meanwhile; the one fix that I recommend is that a work group of controllers chosen by the union from ZHU and I90; as well as management representatives; meet and discuss these problems. Our local management has completely failed us in every way possible regarding this Northeast corner post and the constant battles we have with I90.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.