B737-800
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Total 17500
Communication Breakdown; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Chart Or Publication; Human Factors
We were cleared the ROBUC 2 RNAV Arrival into BOS; JFK transition. Approaching JFK from the south we were vectored to the northwest and then cleared direct NEWES intersection with a very steep descent to make an ATC given altitude restriction at NEWES. We complied. Approaching FEXXX; we were told to copy a reroute.Before you continue; I ask you to open the OOSHN 4 RNAV STAR into KBOS to see what we had to deal with. Keep in mind; it was night and we were moving rapidly towards Boston.We were now cleared to FOSTY and the remainder of the OOSHN 4 RNAV Arrival. I selected FOSTY in the FMS; but neither the First Officer nor I could find it on the Jeppesen page. None of us was very familiar with flying into Boston and none of us had ever flown that arrival. In order to build the arrival in the FMS you have to know on what transition the fix is. Then you can select that transition; eliminate the points before the fix you are cleared to and retain the remainder of the arrival in order to correctly navigate laterally and vertically. The First Officer asked the controller on what transition FOSTY was in order to find it easier. The controller refused to give us that information. I finally found FOSTY and build the arrival. In our FMS; if you proceed to a fix in the middle of a transition and then try to build the arrival; it creates discontinuity points which have to be closed. That it not very easy and involves some tricks and creative thinking. As soon as we had everything loaded correctly; we were issued a new reroute to copy. Now we were cleared direct SOBAH and the remainder of the OOSHN 4 Arrival. We could not find SOBAH. It did not help that the controller misspelled SOBAH. Again we asked for assistance and were denied. I finally found SOBAH. Then a different controller came on the radio and told us to copy a reroute. Now we were cleared to KLEBB and the OOSHN 4 Arrival. KLEBB is before SOBAH and therefore was not in the FMS anymore. I couldn't find it and asked the controller for help and on which transition KLEBB was. He told me to look it up on the Jeppesen page myself. That response was unprofessionally. Obviously I wouldn't ask for help if I could just see it for myself on the Jeppesen page. I told him that I couldn't find it on my page. He didn't care. I finally found KLEBB and built the arrival again from scratch in the FMS.All this happened within five minutes; a vector off route; a clearance to a fix on the original arrival; three reroutes; two non-published ATC imposed altitude constraints; and two ATC directed speed changes in between. I believe there was a fourth reroute but these are the three I remember. There are 42 fixes on that arrival page. There are four transitions coming from the south. The page is cluttered. If you are not familiar with it; it is challenging. This event occurred because ATC was unwilling to help us finding the assigned navigation fixes. I suggest to inform local ATC controllers that not all pilots are familiar with the airspace. Even though there is a crew base in Boston; I rarely fly there and therefore are not familiar with the location of navigation fixes. They also need to keep in mind that a reroute involves extensive FMC inputs which can be challenging. It can be difficult to close discontinuities and reestablish crossing restrictions which can disappear when going direct to a point on an arrival.When a pilot asks for help; the answer to look it up myself is not helpful at all. The airplane is moving; there is traffic around us; we are close to crossing restrictions; we are expected to navigate precisely and expeditiously; and a possible ATC violation is always hanging above us. This could have been less stressful if either ATC would not have changed the route three times in five minutes or would have assisted us in locating the fixes.
B737 Captain reported on arrival into BOS he received 3 reroutes in 5 minutes. Due to unfamiliarity with the routing he requested help with the fixes and was told to look it up himself.