Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
I gave it earlier: Use different terminology that won't give the media and punters an attack of the vapours for making the reasonable assumption that a Mayday means a life-threatening emergency. The brains trust in ICAO, when refereeing these little power struggles between ATC and operators, needs to understand the collateral damage being done to public confidence.
Why should ICAO pander to a "public confidence" issue that seems to be unique to Australia? These procedures are used in other countries, yet they don't attract the same media attention as they do in this country. When did we become such a bunch of princesses?
Furthermore, how does different terminology fix the problem of 42 aircraft allegedly declaring "Mayday Fuel" to gain priority?