This doesn't surprise me at all.
Being a pilot working for the biggest airline in Scandinavia I've heard some rather questionable phrases from "collegues" in other airlines about things procedurewise from ATC that the pilot could not know anything about. And even though we in our company has a strict priority of what to fulfill, safety is always top priority, then punctuality, then service.
I believe as we in years to come will see a growing number of low-cost operators. They are low-cost because they have very reduced number of employees on the ground, and they are very focused on keeping timetables and saving fuel-costs. Therefore we will also see more aggression from pilots who doesn't always get it their way. Unfortunatly, it seems safety is not as prioritized as punctuality with these airlines, as it seems they have a money first, then safety attitude.
However, I don't think anyone want's to crash or get mixed up in situations which compromises their safety,, but focus on irrelevant matters such as keeping the timetable, surely takes the focus off safety. We can all be stressed at times, but the greater dissipline one have to disregard timetables and jelling at ATC the more we can focus on keeping our operation safe.
I know I will be corrected in quite a nasty manner for writing this post, but the fact remains that as the management of the airline focuses more on costsaving matters then on safety,, this will also affect the employees that carry out the operation and consequently, safety.
So to those of you ATC-guys ever recieving comments or abuse from from stressed-up pilots; Ignore them and make sure you do what YOU can in order to get everyone safe on the ground, then most of us will do what we can.
Well done Guys and Girls.