Narrative:

Arriving ord terminal area via filed BULLZ2 arrival; a relatively new procedure; issued less than a month prior. Approach cleared us 'direct krena; cross krena at 10;000 and 310 KTS'. The controller then said [to us]; 'runway 28; 'north flow;' or 'north traffic'.' we didn't ask the controller what routing he wanted at that point. We input all that into the FMS; and descended to make the crossing restriction. When runway 28 is loaded into the FMS; it also changes the arrival routing after the soolu intersection; that published routing is south of the airport. We looked at the routing; but didn't realize that approach might want us to do something different until the aircraft behind us began to ask approach to clarify the routing. Approach told the aircraft behind us to fly to kurkk; vulcn; etc.; all points on the north side of the field; and published for runways 27L; 27R; 22R; etc.based on this overheard conversation; we realized we might be on the wrong track; and manually put kurkk into the FMS; but it was behind us. At this point approach gave us a 090 vector; which puts us on a 'northside'--or right hand--downwind and descended us to 4;000. We continued to set up for the approach (a visual) and subsequent landing on runway 28. Approach never asked us about our routing; so I still don't really know what was expected of us. After we got to the gate; and deplaned the passengers; we looked at the BULLZ2 arrival; and there is no mention of 'north flow'; and confirmed that once runway 28 is put into the FMS; it changes the arrival after soolu intersection. This arrival is new for the crews and for ord approach. Over the years; late night arrivals from the west; to runway 28 have been primarily on the north side of the airport; and it seems that ord approach is continuing to use that route. But with the new arrival procedure; crews need to know what routing to use; and that in this scenario; they will have to manually input all the north side points into the FMS; as it will auto-load the southern points.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Confusion regarding a newly issued revision to the BULLZ STAR to ORD and Approach Control's use of the phrase '...North flow or North traffic' to Runway 28 may have resulted in a track deviation for a B737-800 flight crew.

Narrative: Arriving ORD terminal area via filed BULLZ2 arrival; a relatively new procedure; issued less than a month prior. Approach cleared us 'direct KRENA; cross KRENA at 10;000 and 310 KTS'. The Controller then said [to us]; 'Runway 28; 'North flow;' or 'North traffic'.' We didn't ask the Controller what routing he wanted at that point. We input all that into the FMS; and descended to make the crossing restriction. When Runway 28 is loaded into the FMS; it also changes the arrival routing after the SOOLU Intersection; that published routing is south of the airport. We looked at the routing; but didn't realize that Approach might want us to do something different until the aircraft behind us began to ask Approach to clarify the routing. Approach told the aircraft behind us to fly to KURKK; VULCN; etc.; all points on the north side of the field; and published for Runways 27L; 27R; 22R; etc.Based on this overheard conversation; we realized we might be on the wrong track; and manually put KURKK into the FMS; but it was behind us. At this point Approach gave us a 090 vector; which puts us on a 'Northside'--or right hand--downwind and descended us to 4;000. We continued to set up for the approach (a visual) and subsequent landing on Runway 28. Approach never asked us about our routing; so I still don't really know what was expected of us. After we got to the gate; and deplaned the passengers; we looked at the BULLZ2 arrival; and there is no mention of 'North flow'; and confirmed that once Runway 28 is put into the FMS; it changes the arrival after SOOLU Intersection. This arrival is new for the crews and for ORD Approach. Over the years; late night arrivals from the west; to Runway 28 have been primarily on the north side of the airport; and it seems that ORD Approach is continuing to use that route. But with the new arrival procedure; crews need to know what routing to use; and that in this scenario; they will have to manually input all the north side points into the FMS; as it will auto-load the southern points.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.