Vortex,
I am sure you have your reasons, most of them I can relate to. I don't doubt that you have safety as your primary goal.
As an ICAO member state, if you you want to update or improve certain terminology, in particular English being your language, then you should present your findings to ICAO, convince them through the normal channels, and publish to the rest of world the latest recommendations. The rest of us will follow.
I don't know the numbers, but there a lot of foreign airplanes flying in your airspace. Surely you can appreciate the advantages of all the pilots and ATCs around the world using the same terminology, following and expecting the same procedures and standards.
An ATC facility is a service provider. As such you should listen to your customers, local and foreign. I get the impression some ATCs, in particular the ones who have never left their turf, seem so adamant that their ways are the best, and as long as you are in my airspace you must do what I say. This may be an exaggeration, but I have actually come across ppl like that, not necessarily in the UK though.
Short to medium operators in Europe can fly to a number of countries in a day.
You can not expect them to study the differences of each country.
By the way some other countries do opt to vary from the ICAO recommendations. It is just causing to the confusion and non standard phraseology used by different nationalities & various accents in English.
I am not arguing your comments, I am just presenting my opinion.
Have a nice day.
Last edited by tournesol; 29th Jul 2011 at 17:39.