There were a lot of delays last week due to enroute weather. When we start getting delays out it soon knocks on into inbound delay later on as the whole system backs up.
As for the sickness delay that was due to a couple of bods going sick at LL approach. Nothing to do with the tower which seems to get staffed come hell or high water. Unfortunately there is no CFMU delay code for Approach staffing so they use the tower staffing code instead!
Going back to the sarcasm thing, it is incredibly frustrating when crews are constantly trying to play the system with regard to jumping the queue. We know that it is a minority but nonetheless a significant minority and as well as being bloody annoying it is very unfair on those who play by the rules. When CDM arrives they'll be the first against the wall.
There are only certain parts of the airfield where we actually police "readiness" from the tower so you can expect to be jumped on if you report ready and the world and his wife are still busying themselves around your ship in one of these spots. Sorry if it offends but we're fed up with it and some ATCOs have started filing on it.
I find it more frustrating when the ready report is used to get start for a tight CTOT. Too often, a crew when queried will report ready and then hide on the ground frequency for ten minutes until they actually are. By this time they are woefully tight on the slot and more often than not the poor guy or girl on departures who is presented with it at the back of the queue has to weave it somehow to the front and then delay all those who were legitimately ready in good faith.
If you aren't going to make your slot (that means be ready at CTOT- taxi time, the +10 tolerance is for ATC use) then please get your company to delay your plan or even ask us to do it.
We are there to help and give the best possible service to everybody but we can only do that if everyone plays the game.
Anyway, it remains a fact that sarcasm on the RT is unprofessional but sometimes its easy to come across that way without realising when you are frustrated or annoyed.
I don't know if you've been up for a visit but please come and see how it works, we'll be more than happy to explain it all and answer any questions.