B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 527; Flight Crew Type 20500
Situational Awareness; Workload
ATC Issue All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure; Human Factors
During the descent on the HYDRR 1 RNAV Arrival to PHX I counted 13 separate airspeed; altitude; and heading clearances off of the published STAR. Some airspeed change clearances seemed poorly planned as we would be told to slow to a speed below the next waypoint published speed; then when switched to the next frequency; given a speed above the next waypoint published speed. When vectored off the arrival; we were given no information as to when to expect to rejoin the arrival. Between the altitude and airspeed changes; attempting to maintain the descent profile was tedious; task-saturating; and put both pilots in the yellow for most of the descent. At some point past HYDRR; we were eventually given a heading to intercept the localizer to 7R; then when switched to the next frequency; and after being established on the 7R localizer we were told to fly the visual to 8. When we queried the controller he reversed his clearance back to 7R. The takeaway here and the purpose of this report is to highlight an ongoing deficiency and a need for corrective action in how ATC handles arrival traffic at many airports. The current climate puts all the risk on pilots in the form of additive conditions that make the workload unmanageable. Often the airspeed changes and expectation to meet future altitude crossing restrictions defy physics as jet aircraft do not descend and slow simultaneously nor instantly. Designing; publishing; updating; issuing clearance; programming; and briefing these arrivals; when some are seldom; if ever flown as published; is a waste of time; money; and effort and compromises the ability to safely remain on or regain the descent profile and achieve a stable arrival; approach; and landing; as is evidenced in countless [ASRS] reports. If air traffic controllers cannot competently incorporate Next Generation airspace and aircraft automation capabilities and limitations into their handling of arrival aircraft; then they should not issue clearances for these STARs and should merely vector traffic to the final approach course.
B737 Captain reported high workload resulted when P50 Controller issued multiple clearance changes on approach to PHX.