They (ATC) seem to be much better in some other countries at advising why you are being held /delayed/jinked about etc. Even some places that are far far busier than Oz.
If you are going to be screwed about, it's always nice to know why etc... (and in advance) it keeps the frustration levels down.
Traffic advice both enroute and in the TMA is something that I believe could be done a little better, especially when there is a chance of TCAS alerts etc. Trouble is that the controllers that do it say that some pilots just don't know what to do with the advice, so do nothing and some ATC supervisors say its a waste of time and not SOPS. Give me traffic any day and its appreciated, even when there is not a sep problem. I recall a 737 going around behind a dash8, because he was overtaking him on final. It would not have been all that hard to provide timely traffic to the dash (he would keep his speed up) and the 73 would have had the chance to slow down. But it didn't happen and the GA was assured.
ASA recently put out a memo to operators about the problems on the ground at SYD. Talk about telling pilots how to suck eggs! It seems to blame the pilots and operators for all the problems at SYD and goes to great lengths to explain the coord requirements of the controllers. Interesting point is that the same pilots / operators go elsewhere and there is no problem, so the issue is very much a SYD problem. About time someone in ASA thought outside the box in an effort to solve the issues there. Some more resources in the tower for a start, maybe an extra coord or perhaps a 3rd SMC. See what the FAA do at SFO - might learn something??
my 2c worth!!
