Alexban, well said
I am an air traffic controller from Canada who has worked in Europe. When I arrived in Geneva centre, both french and english was used on the frequency. After the introduction of RVSM they made the upper airspace english only. There were no problems. IF you wanna work in the aviation industry you must speak english.. I didn't decide this, it's just the most commonly used language in developed countries. All pilots do, all controllers do. So what is the problem if we use 1 language.. it's alot safer... ever heard of situational awareness?
IT's a whole pride thing, I am allowed to speak spanish, french etc so I will and the reason.. "we think it's safer to speak to spanish/french speaking pilots/controllers in their mother tongue.." So what are we saying here? If I fly into a spanish/french airport speaking english.. am i not provided as safe a service? Is the controller not able to communicate effectively?
I don't buy that, it's not a question of ability when it comes to language it's a question of will. They DON'T want to speak the one language.