ATC (let's remote control those guys...)
Food for thought.....
Rather than blather on VHF, ATC selects the aircraft, types in next requested FL, heading, speed, etc. and datalinks it to the aircraft.
Appears as "bugs" on the aircraft displays.
If the aircraft doesn't respond/react, it's a red blip on the screen.
As soon as it does (climb, heading change, new speed selected) the blip goes orange. Once the aircraft matches the new request, the blip goes green.
I would think even the pilots would like it, especially now that they DO have TCAS.
"Ping"....
Current FL displayed say "FL280"
Just below it says "ATC > FL240" in magenta.
You set an ALT ACQ for FL240.
Once the a/c is set up for the descent, your a/c display goes to "ATC > FL240" in yellow (as does the ATC blip), and the legend disappears once you're at FL240.
Don't shoot me down immediately. I know the "interface" doesn't exist yet, and my description is over-simplistic.
But using simple visual clues and messages would seem to be a far more reliable way to communicate data than the current RT mishmash, and get rid of much of the language problems as well.
CJ