Considering they have around 150 aircraft I guess if there's was one or two bad eggs it doesn't make every pilot in the company that way.
Agreed.
By the way, was this pilot English?
Yes.
It's not unusual for pilots to tell the tower that they can accept an immediate departure as this let's the tower know that you won't hang about completing checks
Agreed. However the Easy was at the hold, and I seem to recall the exact exchange went something like this:
He reported ready, told to hold, with no more than 10 seconds, he said ready immediate, hold, I can accept an immediate now .. .. ..
It was the now that finally did it, and AT asked the heli to break off his crossing. He got his immediate. In consequence two other aircraft on non instrument approaches were also delayed.
The fact is the controller had clearly factored in the time required for the heli to cross, the Easy was the only aircraft at the hold, and so presumably the controller knew he was going to get her away without a slot extension or had already negotiated an extension.
I am happy to accept the Easy was just having a bad day, however this is not my first experience of commercials feeling they can "bully" AT.