Excellent points.
I include the word 'land' or 'landing' in this, too.
Part of my job is ensuring that all drivers of ground vehicles at LGW comply with Aeronautical Phraseology when on the Manoeuvring Area. We go a little further than the book and ban the use of the words 'clear' or 'cleared' as well.
Following Tenerife, we were given a whole list of revised phraseology and the reasons for the changes. Not all of them are fully dealt with in CAP413 in as comprehensive a way as I would like. However, we strive to set a standard on the airfield that will put us above reproach. I'm not, however, saying we're all perfect, a little coaching is required from time to time!!!
Banned words Replacement
Overshoot Go around
Go ahead Pass your message
Take-off Depart(ure)
Land(ing) Arriv(ing)
Cleared to push Pushback approved
Cleared the runway Vacated the runway
Affirmative Affirm
The above list isn't comprehensive, but you get the picture.
I notice considerable back-sliding amongst pilots some of whom can't possibly have been flying before these changes were made. They seem to like using the 'old' phrases, as if this indicates they've been around a long time.
There's NO point in saying 'Tug xx, you're cleared to cross (runway)xx report vacated'. The whole point of using the words 'vacated' and 'approved' is to avoid the use of the word 'clear'. I think that it should be STRICTLY reserved for ATC giving permission, at a Tower field only, for an aircraft to land or take off.
The problem, I believe, is that this word 'clear', or 'cleared' is such a lovely way of saying 'OK, what you want to do fits in with my plan, so go ahead and do it, but you'd better watch out, too. I'm not accepting full responsibility for what you're doing, because I don't have full control over all the circumstances a kilometer or more from where I'm sitting'. That is a perfectly legitimate position to take, so we say 'approved' as another way of sharing the burden of responsibility. It clearly wouldn't be fair for a controller to have to say 'I ORDER you to push your aircraft NOW'.
The problem I have is that we need a completely unambiguous set of phrases for critical parts of the operation. These must also not be confusable with other words or phrases that are open to mis-interpretation if they are only partly heard. Hence our use of 'affirm' instead of 'affirmative'. I just hear '-ative' many times per day as transmissions are stepped on or people start speaking before keying the mike.
Incidentally, I also think that our controllers at LGW (and our base pilots, too) do an excellent job of following the spirit and letter of the phraseology policy. Sadly the owrst offendors are our visitors from across the Atlantic. This surprises me, because my understanding is that the phraseology revisions originated with them in the first place!
Cheers,
TheOddOne