Originally Posted by
Wizofoz
There is one controller in Melbourne (132.2 last night) who has a thing about aircraft reporting, while identified, that they are leaving their cruising flight level.
His favourite trick is to not give a progressive descent clearance- to wait till you are approaching you assigned level and ask for further clearance before saying "OH! Missed your leaving call!" and giving you further descent.
I actually fronted him last night (frequency was quiet and I didn't prolong it" and transmitted "That's nit required". He replied with "It's in the AIP".
I've searched and while a "leaving" call is party of standard phraseology, I didn't interpret it as being a requirement in a RADAR environment, and no other center in the country seems bothered.
I think at best he's being bloody minded, but is he even technically correct?
Indeed, welcome to Australian ATC. The most pedantic in the world. Lucky for them its a huge area with very little traffic.
The odd thing is that Aussie controllers who leave and become expats in the Middle East and Asia are quite the opposite, they're all first class and a joy to work with. This points to either the system or senior managers with "issues".