Anybody know if there is a precise definition of "Ready Message" in European ATC, or even in the world at large ? Does it mean an aircraft has received its ATC clearance, doors closed and ground support equipment cleared away, or is it the foregoing plus tug and towbar connected and pushback crew in attendance and obviously awaiting an improvement in its CTOT.
I ask as a tug driver. In my company we frequently receive requests/demands from pilots asking for tug, towbar and pushback crew to stay with their aircraft because "we've got a ready message in". Needless to say, at a busy period, we cannot always accommodate such a request as it would be at the expense of those flights which don't have a CTOT. Try explaining this to the pilots in question and the response can be...well, you can probably imagine !
Any experiences from aircrew, groundcrew, despatchers and ATC people read with interest. Ta.
