ZTL controller reports of being told by front line manager (flm) to slow a specific aircraft to the ...

Narrative:

I was working the rocket sector when I was told by my supervisor to give aircraft X 'slowest practical speed'. I have seen tremendous safety issues with this over the last few months so I asked; 'from traffic management unit (tmu)? Is he following someone?' the supervisor responded with 'I don't know'. I called tmu from the console and asked what the speed was for and they told me it was to help with spacing to dfw behind aircraft Y. At the time aircraft Y was in gadsden sector's (R3) airspace and aircraft X was entering the same airspace. I told him I would make sure gadsden knew to provide the required spacing. I did. I told my supervisor that I wasn't going to give the speed and voiced my concern about the extremely dangerous situation that can be created when tmu gives control instructions without seeing the traffic picture. He responded with; 'I don't care; its above my pay grade.' I will continue to report this situation. It is extremely dangerous for tmu to give control instructions from the front. It is also dangerous to have a supervisory culture that is flippant about safety issues that are brought to their attention in good faith. Tmu should never give separation instructions to a controller regarding two aircraft in the same or adjacent sectors. They are not controllers; they are coordinators. I have seen several near deals/collisions from these instructions being sent out. It also is a tremendous disservice to the pilots and flying public. If tmu says 'give [any] aircraft slowest practical' and I give it; it may be 4 or 5 sectors or more before someone questions it and resumes the aircraft. Meanwhile; you have slowed an aircraft to mach .62 for 300 miles and delayed the flight. Further; by doing this; you cause a ripple effect that can delay the entire air carrier for the day. I am not saying it isn't feasible every once in a while but this is happening daily. Several times per day.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZTL Controller reports of being told by Front Line Manager (FLM) to slow a specific aircraft to the slowest practical speed. Controller doesn't do this and coordinates with another sector. Controller states Traffic Management Unit (TMU) should not be giving control instructions.

Narrative: I was working the Rocket sector when I was told by my supervisor to give Aircraft X 'Slowest practical speed'. I have seen tremendous safety issues with this over the last few months so I asked; 'From Traffic Management Unit (TMU)? Is he following someone?' The supervisor responded with 'I don't know'. I called TMU from the console and asked what the speed was for and they told me it was to help with spacing to DFW behind Aircraft Y. At the time Aircraft Y was in Gadsden sector's (R3) airspace and Aircraft X was entering the same airspace. I told him I would make sure Gadsden knew to provide the required spacing. I did. I told my supervisor that I wasn't going to give the speed and voiced my concern about the extremely dangerous situation that can be created when TMU gives control instructions without seeing the traffic picture. He responded with; 'I don't care; its above my pay grade.' I will continue to report this situation. It is extremely dangerous for TMU to give control instructions from the front. It is also dangerous to have a supervisory culture that is flippant about safety issues that are brought to their attention in good faith. TMU should never give separation instructions to a controller regarding two aircraft in the same or adjacent sectors. They are not controllers; they are coordinators. I have seen several near deals/collisions from these instructions being sent out. It also is a tremendous disservice to the pilots and flying public. If TMU says 'give [Any] Aircraft slowest practical' and I give it; it may be 4 or 5 sectors or more before someone questions it and resumes the aircraft. Meanwhile; you have slowed an aircraft to Mach .62 for 300 miles and delayed the flight. Further; by doing this; you cause a ripple effect that can delay the entire air carrier for the day. I am not saying it isn't feasible every once in a while but this is happening daily. Several times per day.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1260936
Time
Date	201505
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZTL.TRACON
State Reference	NC
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 5
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Speed All Types

ZTL controller reports of being told by front line manager (flm) to slow a specific aircraft to the slowest practical speed. Controller doesn't do this and coordinates with another sector. Controller states traffic management unit (tmu) should not be giving control instructions.