Holding Procedures

All aircraft (IFH ch. 10):

• Up to 6,000 feet MSL — 200 KIAS
• 6,001–14,000 feet — 230 KIAS
• 14,001 feet and above — 265 KIAS

Exceptions:

• Patterns from 6,001–14,000 feet may be restricted to 210 KIAS (charted icon)
• Some patterns are restricted to 175 KIAS (icon — generally on IAPs for Category A/B aircraft)
• USAF airfields: 310 KIAS
• Navy airfields: 230 KIAS
• A pilot unable to comply must notify ATC

That last exception is a real ATP answer: if your type's minimum clean or icing speed exceeds the limit, say so.

Start the speed reduction when 3 minutes or less from the holding fix, and cross the fix initially at or below the maximum holding airspeed (IFH ch. 10) — which is precisely the graded skill: change to the appropriate holding speed for the aircraft and altitude so as to cross the fix at or below maximum holding airspeed (S3). The purpose is containment: the protected airspace was sized for the limit speed, and adjacent holding patterns can be close together (IFH ch. 10). In a jet this is an energy problem — brief the slow-down point on the arrival, because 3 minutes at descent speed is a lot of knots to lose.

Airspeed ±10 knots, altitude ±100 feet, headings ±10°, accurately tracking the selected course, radial, or bearing — the en-route standard, not the final-approach one (AA.VI.J.S7).

What the ATP task layers on top:

• Correct navaid identification (S1)
• An appropriate entry for standard, nonstandard, published, or unpublished patterns (S2)
• Leg length and restriction compliance (S4)
• ATC reporting (S5)
• Wind correction to arrive over the fix as close as possible to a specified time (S6)
• Automation use — autopilot, flight director, and navigation displays for the assigned hold (S8)
• Updating fuel reserves against the EFC (S9)

Entries, timing, and wind-correction technique are unchanged from the instrument rating and are covered in the IFR guide (Task III.B); the ATP delta is the fuel math and the automation.

Rebuild the fuel picture from four numbers:

• Fuel on board
• Fuel flow while holding (holding flow at your weight and altitude — not cruise flow)
• Fuel required to the destination
• Fuel to the alternate plus final reserve

The dispatch release under 121 already assumed destination + most distant alternate + 45 minutes at normal cruising consumption (121.639, the domestic-operations rule; the part 91 IFR floor is the same 45-minute reserve, 91.167) — holding fuel is what's left above that structure. The graded behaviors: update the calculation whenever the EFC changes (S9, R1) and know your bingo — the fuel at which you leave the hold for the alternate regardless of the EFC. Say the number out loud when you enter the hold.

Advise ATC when your fuel supply has reached a state where, upon reaching destination, you cannot accept any undue delay. It is not an emergency and does not get you traffic priority — it's an advisory that an emergency is possible if any undue delay occurs, given on initial contact after your call sign ("Salt Lake Approach, United 621, minimum fuel"). If the remaining usable fuel requires traffic priority to ensure a safe landing, declare an emergency due to low fuel and report fuel remaining in minutes (AIM 5-5-15). The ATP-grade distinction: minimum fuel protects you from undue delay; only the emergency declaration changes your sequence.

The ACS names deteriorating destination weather as the archetype; the IFH adds the system-level trigger — when ceiling and visibility fall to or below the highest circling minimums, ATC issues instructions to aircraft that want to hold awaiting improvement or proceed to another airport (IFH ch. 10).

Practical scenarios for the oral:

• Weather trending toward minimums
• Single-runway airports with a disabled-aircraft risk
• Flow programs into the hub
• Your own missed approach (holding is one of the three post-miss options — AA.VI.I.S11)

Each one should trigger the same brief: holding fix, expected EFC handling, holding fuel available, and the divert decision point.

The task's reference list includes AC 91-74 (aircraft in icing) for a reason: a hold is prolonged exposure at low speed in one block of altitude — if that block is in cloud at freezing temperatures, you're marinating.

The risk-management answers the evaluator wants:

• Ice protection systems on per the AFM before entering the conditions
• Awareness that holding speed limits and your type's minimum icing airspeed may conflict — the "unable to comply, notify ATC" clause (IFH ch. 10) is the escape
• A request for a different altitude or a hold outside the conditions when accretion continues

Specific speeds and system procedures are type territory: AFM first.

FMS holding is the norm in a transport airplane: the box computes the entry, commands the turns, and sequences the legs — flown coupled in LNAV with the autopilot on. The graded skill is supervision: verify the hold the FMS built matches the clearance — fix, inbound course/radial, turn direction, leg length or time — before it starts the entry, and monitor the depicted pattern against the raw data (S1, S8). Where FMS behavior can deviate from expectation (entry geometry, wind handling near protected-airspace limits), the IFR guide's Task III.B cards cover the failure modes; the ATP behavior is the same: automation flies, you audit.

Comply with the reporting requirements (S5): acknowledge and record the EFC, report as instructed, and — the ATP layer — tell ATC about the constraint they can't see: your fuel.

The clearance itself tells you what ATC is tracking — fix, holding course, leg length if DME/RNAV is used, turn direction if left turns are required, and the EFC with any pertinent additional delay information — and ATC issues instructions when a delay will exceed 1 hour or a revised EFC is necessary (IFH ch. 10). The escalation ladder (advisory → minimum fuel → emergency) is the Quick Review card; the timing discipline is here: report the state before it forces the decision.

The EFC is not trivia — it's your lost-comm departure time.

Fix with an approach: commence descent or approach as close as possible to the EFC, or absent one, the flight-planned ETA.

Fix without one: leave the limit at the EFC — or upon arriving over it if none was received — then proceed to an approach fix and begin descent as close as possible to the ETA (91.185(c)(3)).

Copy the EFC every time it's revised; in the quiet after a comm failure it's the only clock ATC and you still share.

• Entering: PM confirms the clearance readback and EFC; PF commands the speed reduction at the 3-minute point (IFH ch. 10); both verify the FMS hold against the clearance before the entry
• Established: PF monitors the pattern and wind correction (S6); PM runs the fuel picture — holding flow, bingo time, next EFC — and gets destination weather trends
• Deciding: the divert decision is briefed as a number ("at 5,200 pounds we're leaving for the alternate"), not a mood; when the number arrives, the request goes to ATC without renegotiation

That structure is the task's CRM content: automation flies the racetrack (S8), the crew flies the decision (K2, K3, R2).