Pilots and controllers need to check their ego's at the front door of the house.
Above all, we are all human and we ALL make mistakes. We as pilots may be paired up with a un-cooperative mate, an inexperienced mate, or be really tired from an all nighter/multiple timezone changes. We may just be having a bad day. I appreciate the help and prodding from ATCO's.You are part of the CRM we use daily. But, Don't ask us to produce miracles or be magicians. Please be polite, please!
I fly cargo now, we can do alot and not have to worry about upsetting the pax. But, we may have cows, or horses or whales on board or hazmat. We like to make smooth approaches too.
ATCO's, try and get some Fam rides on various types, or try and have some one on one chats with pilots to ask about their performance parameters. Your little book that says what we can do, i think is kinda flawed.
Some of the requests we get in various parts of europe for instance, make us start laughing or shaking our heads in disbelief. Do you really think we are climbing at 300 feet a minute because we want to? Asking us to increase our climb to 1500 fpm or more is laughable.
Please be helpful! Please be polite. When ATCO's are nasty, we tend to not want to be helpful. That goes both ways too, I know!
ATCO's are here to help the pilots. We must all work together.
Going into Newark, we are asked regularly to maintain 180 knots until 4 dme. To be configured and on speed and stable, well that ain't happenin! We try to compromise as best we can, but we can't do all that and stand on one foot and juggle too. When you ask alot of us, you are basically asking us to break our SOP's.
747 approach speeds can vary as much as 40 knots. Trying to lose 40 knots in a short distance can be tough if your light.
Anyway, yes, I like it when your pro-active! Keep up the good work!