Definition
Portions of an arrival route between published points where a defined airspeed restriction applies. ATC assigns these segments to manage spacing and sequencing on arrivals into busy terminal areas, with the speed restriction beginning at the first named fix and remaining in effect until the next named fix or until the pilot is otherwise instructed.
Plain English
These are stretches of an arrival route where pilots must hold a specific speed. The speed limit starts at one named point on the chart and ends at the next, helping controllers keep arriving aircraft properly spaced.
Context Anchor
Seen on published arrival procedures, especially when planning and flying the arrival toward an airport.
Why Pilots Care
Following the assigned speeds keeps the aircraft properly sequenced with others and ensures the procedure works as designed.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as any general discussion of aircraft speed. In this FAA use, speed segments are marked parts of an arrival route with specific speeds to follow.
Example Sentence 1
The arrival chart showed two speed segments, requiring 280 knots to the next fix and then 250 knots inside that point.
Example Sentence 2
ATC instructed the aircraft to comply with the published speed segments during the arrival.