A321
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness; Workload; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Procedure
The event was an unacceptable increase in workload during descent into Chicago. ATC provided the flight with a clearance which included a STAR for arrival. On arrival the ATC facility changed the Arrival STAR three times for no apparent reason. The runway assignment remained unchanged during the arrival and landing. The first STAR assignment and the final STAR assignment had us tracking closely over the same flight path; the second assigned STAR provided a clear path to the runway while the others required Radar vectoring. The workload was intensified during the entire arrival due to the various changes in STAR assignments. This in my view was unacceptable; each change came with a clearance direct to a point we were already proceeding direct to.There did not seem to be a reason for the many reroutes. While one can understand being assigned a new STAR when it becomes necessary due to airport landing configuration changes; or when balancing the load; however; this did not seem to be the case. We arrived exactly as we would have on any of the arrivals assigned for landing on the expected runway. The STAR or procedure should be assigned and once on the arrival the changes should be kept to a minimum. There are many things happening in the airspace surrounding ORD that don't seem to have rhyme or reason easily understood by the flight crew. The dive and drive mentality of the ATC system in ORD is out dated and procedures should be established that support the modern aircraft navigation method. The lack of profile altitudes and speeds on the arrivals into ORD dictate that the aircraft speeds and altitudes be manually provided. VHF frequency congestion is becoming an obstacle to safe and efficient operations as well. The situation from a high altitude view can be solved by automating the airspace and providing profile procedures that allow for minimum workload in the cockpit and a high level of situational awareness to the crew. This can be fixed by applying the new procedures to the airspace.
A321 Captain reported the arrival STAR was changed three times during descent into ORD for no apparent reason.