Holding Patterns (HOLD)

Premiumadvanced
📍 Route: KORD → KCLE — hold at DJB⏱ ~7 minutes📊 9 steps🎓 Enroute Operations

Cleveland approach is saturated and you are going into the hold at DJB. Build the pattern with the HOLD key, then get out of it again.

What this scenario covers

The HOLD key builds a holding pattern at a chosen fix. The FMC proposes the published hold if the database has one, or a default — right turns, a one-minute leg below fourteen thousand feet and a minute and a half above — and the crew adjusts the inbound course, turn direction and leg time as cleared.

Exiting is its own action rather than something that happens automatically: the crew arms the exit so the aircraft leaves the pattern on the next pass rather than continuing to orbit.

How it applies in flight ops

Holding is a fuel conversation. As soon as the pattern is in the box, the FMC's predictions account for the time spent in it, which is what turns "how long can we hold?" from an estimate into a number with reserves attached.

The published hold on the chart and the FMC's proposal must agree; where they differ the chart is authoritative and the entry is edited. Crews also brief the exit before entering — the busiest moment in a hold is the clearance to leave it.

Fly this one with Premium

Everything about this scenario is on this page, steps included — reading it costs nothing and always will. What Premium adds is doing it: the CDU validates every entry as you make it, tells you when an entry was accepted but wrong, and saves your progress across devices.

See Premium →Try the free scenarios →

Step-by-step: Holding Patterns (HOLD)

  1. Set up the route first. Press RTE, type KORD and press 1L for the ORIGIN.

    KORD = Chicago O'Hare. The HOLD page builds on the active route, so the route comes first — same dependency as every other LEGS-family page.

  2. Type KCLE and press 1R for the DEST.

    KCLE = Cleveland Hopkins. Short sectors into busy hubs are exactly where holds happen — there is no spare track miles to absorb a delay, so ATC stacks you instead.

  3. On PERF INIT, set CRZ ALT FL230. Press INIT REF, then 3L for PERF INIT, then type 230 and press 1R.

    Eastbound courses use odd flight levels, and FL230 fits this short leg. Remember this number — the FMC's default holding leg time depends on whether you are above 14,000 feet.

  4. ATC: "Hold at DJB as published, expect further clearance at 1455Z." Press the HOLD page key.

    No holding pattern exists in the route yet, so the FMC shows the LEGS page with the HOLD AT entry line: box prompts at 6L for the fix, and PPOS> at 6R to hold at present position.

  5. Type DJB and press 6L to enter the holding fix.

    DJB (Dryer VOR/DME) isn't in your route yet, so the scratchpad shows the HOLD AT DJB message — the FMC's way of asking where the fix belongs. On the real jet you would line-select it into the route; the trainer takes you straight to the MOD RTE 1 HOLD page.

  6. ATC amends: "Hold east of DJB on the 090 radial, inbound course 270, left turns." Type 270/L and press 3L for INBD CRS/DIR.

    With no entry the FMC assumes RIGHT turns — that's the default, shown in small font. Same with LEG TIME: 1.0 minute at or below 14,000 feet, 1.5 above — at FL230 the page shows 1.5 MIN in small font. Small font = FMC default, large font = crew entry. ATC said left turns, so this one needs typing.

  7. Press EXEC* (6R) to execute the hold.

    The title changes from MOD RTE 1 HOLD to ACT RTE 1 HOLD — the holding pattern is now part of the active route, and the aircraft will enter it at DJB.

  8. Time passes... ATC: "Cleared to Cleveland Hopkins, leave the hold." Press EXIT HOLD (6R).

    Pressing EXIT HOLD arms the exit: the prompt changes to EXIT ARMED (highlighted on the real CDU) and the EXEC light illuminates. Nothing has happened to the flight path yet — arming is not executing.

  9. Press 6R once more to execute the exit.

    On execution the FMC flies a shortened pattern back to DJB, departs the hold, and resumes the active route — and the CDU returns to the LEGS page, exactly what the real aircraft shows after a holding exit.

What to take away

  • HOLD builds the pattern at a fix, using the published hold where one exists.
  • Default is right turns, one-minute legs below 14,000 feet.
  • Exiting is an armed action, not automatic.
  • With the hold in the box, endurance becomes a prediction rather than a guess.

The rest of Enroute Operations

← Back to all scenarios