ZTL ARTCC controller reported issuing the wrong arrival procedure to an aircraft.

Attributes
ACN	1409532
Time
Date	201612
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZTL.ARTCC
State Reference	GA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 26.0
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Narrative:

While working under article 65 for previous noted events on this sector; as anticipated; confusion remains. The optimum profile descents (opd) were previously deemed unsafe unless they are in effect 24 hours a day. Even though management concurs with this fact; the procedures are routinely turned on/off based on request from A80. They are choosing a request over safety of the flying public. While working last session; they changed from opds to crossing restrictions. These crossing restrictions differ from the charts read by the pilots. These lead to mass confusion on their end and endless readback errors for us. We were told to stop the opds and instead use these crossing restrictions with air carrier X. Within this confusion; I instead gave air carrier Y a crossing restriction rather than an opd. I was unaware of this action until my supervisor informed me about 5 minutes later. I replied that I'm still operating under article 65.make the restrictions coincide with the charts read by the pilots to create a safe environment. Use the opds as designed to eliminate confusion and keep the flying public safe!

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZTL ARTCC Controller reported issuing the wrong arrival procedure to an aircraft.

Narrative: While working under Article 65 for previous noted events on this sector; as anticipated; confusion remains. The Optimum Profile Descents (OPD) were previously deemed unsafe unless they are in effect 24 hours a day. Even though management concurs with this fact; the procedures are routinely turned on/off based on request from A80. They are choosing a request over safety of the flying public. While working last session; they changed from OPDs to crossing restrictions. These crossing restrictions differ from the charts read by the pilots. These lead to mass confusion on their end and endless readback errors for us. We were told to stop the OPDs and instead use these crossing restrictions with Air Carrier X. Within this confusion; I instead gave Air Carrier Y a crossing restriction rather than an OPD. I was unaware of this action until my supervisor informed me about 5 minutes later. I replied that I'm still operating under Article 65.Make the restrictions coincide with the charts read by the pilots to create a safe environment. Use the OPDs as designed to eliminate confusion and keep the flying public safe!

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.