Is English the official language of ATC or not?
I thought it was. And I assumed it definitely would be at an airport such as Geneva. But listening over the Internet to transmissions from the Departure/Arrivals frequency this afternoon, I heard some Air France pilots talking to controllers in French. I don't mean simply saying 'au revoir' at the end of the transmission. The whole transmission and reply was in French.
'What's new?', I hear you say. But is this not unlawful?
Surely, speaking in French in the flight deck is one thing, but if you communicate with an ATCO you must speak English, otherwise you exclude other pilots on that frequency who do not speak/understand French from understanding your conversation, which could be a safety issue?
Am I being naive here?!
Nick