Originally Posted by
darrenpb
Gotcha. Thanks. I always assumed flights had to circle around the airport in a holding pattern to get in line to land when it is busy. Didn't know they could just zig-zag their way in.
Holds don't happen that often in the US these days, and are mostly used for unexpected events that significantly impact the airport's arrival rate. (Ground Delay Programs are used to hold planes at their origin for events that are forecasted.) Delay vectors, however, are super common for creating an extra mile or two of spacing when necessary. Often they're just not quite as dramatic as this one (e.g. a turn in a slightly less-than-optimal direction).