B737-800
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Total 22000
Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Procedure; Human Factors
I was flying the TRTLL1 arrival at 11000 ft. I was assigned heading 062 and flying the assigned airspeed of 250 kts near MONKZ which had us heading straight at EBENS intersection and given descent to 7000 ft. I was then cleared to 4000 ft and was slowing with speed brake deployed. At 232 kts asked for flaps 1. Then ATC cleared us down to 3300 ft and told [us] we were getting a short approach. As we entered the cloud deck the airspeed went toward the 240 kt limit and I clicked off the auto pilot to avoid overspeed. While trying to hand fly; the controller gave us a 360 degree heading. There was no lateral flight guidance and I was doing a shallow turn towards the north and my copilot was trying to get the automation back. I leveled off to keep from over speeding the flaps; then continued down. The controller then asked us to climb to 6000 ft and I had the gear down and headed down and tried to climb manually. Then the controller gave us an immediate turn to 280 degrees while we were climbing to 6000 ft. By then we were north of the cloud deck and cleared for a visual. Then the controller insisted on giving us a phone number while trying to configure the aircraft. While the copilot was writing down the phone number I configured the airplane and the copilot completed the landing check list at about 1200 ft AGL. We had an uneventful landing. [Suggest] not having planes land on the South runway coming from the North and not have airplanes coming from the South land on the North runway. Short approaches in IFR conditions are very challenging.
If ATC has a need or requires us to perform to certain expectations a heads up would be beneficial so we can meet their expectations. The earlier the better.
B737-800 flight crew reported ATC became unhappy with them during a complex arrival into ORD.