Rate of descent.

I was wondering what the ‘normal’ or average rate of descent was for airliners. I understand that they are held at various levels before being cleared for further descent, but how many feet a minute do they normally descend at?

This is prompted by a small piece in the press today about the Captain of a Low Cost airliner who alledgedly brought his aircraft down at 6,000 feet a minute as he had forgotten to descend when instructed. The paper says this is twice the normal rate. The Captain is said to have admitted this blaming fatigue and stress for a deficiency in ‘logical thought.’

By the same token, what is the normal rate of climb? I presume it differs according to type but I know from experience the 737 seems to climb quite steeply while 146 series aircraft of different airlines seem to differ, BA seeming to take a much shallower angle of climb than say SN or Flybe.

Regards,

kev35