...mentioning
passing altitude when contacting a new sector controller has
NOT been an ICAO requirement, and IF the new controller
wants this information, the
previous controller
should have said so in the first place, when he issued a frequency change.
It would indeed appear that
some ATC folks are not all that familiar with ICAO procedures....UK folks in particular.
In addition, the new controller can positively see the passing altitude now, as all transponders in use by large aircraft have this facility...Charlie mode.
So, ATC folks, get your knickers out of a twist.
Pilots have enough problems trying to read the newspaper without being bothered all the time...
PS:
Heard by yours truly many years ago, on the LAX ground control freq:
Clipper 56, contact ground 121.6
(as he was taxying northbound on runway 34...yes, I told you this was a looog time ago)
PA56: Hey ground, why do we have to change freqs so much, it interrupts our ah...reading Playboy.
Ground: You are a dirty old man.
PA56: Yes, we
are all old enough up here, and she ain't bad looking either.
Ground: Ah...no comment, but can you bring it up to the tower so we can all have a look?
PA56: Positively NO.
From another acft:
Not only old, stingy as well.