B737-700
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 391; Flight Crew Type 6000
Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Environment - Non Weather Related; Procedure
On the HOBTT Arrival into ATL; we encountered wake turbulence from [a] B747 twice. Subsequently; the first ATL Approach Controller slowed us down to 210 knots due to the B747 in front of us. I slowed down; and shallowed out the descent rate to avoid any more encounters. On downwind; we were experiencing quartering tailwinds. Abeam the airport; the next controller's Supervisor or Monitor position broke into Approach's transmissions and told us that our descent rate was unacceptable and warned that if we didn't get down that we would have to do a 25-mile final. She seemed very upset. I felt; at that point; we would not get into the wake upset anymore since [the other] aircraft got cleared a few minutes prior. I then increased the descent rate. I am very familiar with the downwind descent rates needed in ATL. The Captain and I have both experienced wake turbulence in the past. I felt it was safe to do a shallow descent to avoid further encounter. Even the prior Controller cautioned us of the B747 in front of us. I felt that the Monitor/Supervisor that got upset with us should have communicated this to us. It's great for ATC to get numerous aircraft into a large terminal facility very quickly. But more importantly it is better to avoid a wake turbulence encounter.
While descending on the HOBTT 2 RNAV Arrival; we were told to disregard the crossing restrictions on the arrival and slow to 210 knots as we were following a heavy 747. The First Officer and I knew we were following something large because we had felt the wake turbulence twice before we were notified. We were handed off to another ATL Approach Controller and told to continue our descent (I don't remember the altitude). The First Officer was the Pilot Flying and he was descending using Vertical Speed as to avoid any further encounters with the 747 wake. It sounded like a 'Monitor' Controller; but suddenly we heard a transmission that said 'Flight XXX; you have descended.' I believe she said 500' or 700' in four miles. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! The Controller said to 'expedite or I'll put you on a 25 mile final;' as if we were being penalized. We expedited down and we still had approximately a 25 mile final.I believe that one preventative measure would be that both controllers on the two separate frequencies are on the same page when it comes to descent clearances. I have been in ATL enough over my career to know how it operates; but when following a heavy 747 and already having two encounters with the wake turbulence we thought the safest course of action was to stay above his descent path. I feel that a controller insinuating that you will be penalized for what you believed was the safest course of action is never a good idea. As a crew we could have expressed our concern about following the 747 better and perhaps given an alternate arrival or descent clearance.
B737-700 flight crew reported encountering wake turbulence from a preceding B747 on arrival into ATL.