Perhaps it is time for a voice of reason.
We, pilots and controllers, are both stake holders with a view to getting the job done as efficiently as possible.
Understanding this basic tenet it a good foundation for moving forward yet understanding the other parties perspective seems to be what is missing.
As a pilot it seems illogical for me to be tasked with 250 kts in the hold yet 200 on final descent however, deciphering my TCAS display, I can often explain the reasoning when preceding aircraft are flying speeds at whim regardless of ATC instruction. Take a look next time at the increasingly reduce spacing when you are on approach behind an airline with "reduced RT skills" and try and imagine the knock on effect to the controllers when there are 10 of "them" on frequency. The number of crew that I fly with who pay scant regard to increasingly reducing spacing is alarming. Whilst our primary concern remains the safety of our aircraft, it pays to consider we are not the only aircraft in the sky.
As for controllers comments ref wx avoidance, we have on average a couple of hundred people down the back of which on average half of them are scared sh1tless of flying. It is in our best interests (and yours) that they become a return customer. Whilst the "whale" rides the bumps well, it is patently obvious that the person making the "sook" comment has yet to experience a towering Cu penetration in a lightly loaded A330.
Further, we are not all 737's. I struggle doing a dirty dive onto 07R when landing at 280 T after a 12+ hour duty..... really struggle.
In addition, on said flight it is not possible to reduce to 250 kts at FL 370 when entering the FIR at ENVAR (and definitely not 220 kts). My comment "too heavy" should be the end of it. If you need to enroute hold the aircraft then so be it but continual requests to reduce speed from the next controller does beg whether the message is getting thru. You do talk to each other on handover .... right? As a hint, any flight number prefixed with a "0" from North American is a dead given that we are entering the FIR tired, jetlagged and more often than not close to max weight. If I am inbound from AMS via SIKOU then different story.
If this has come across as a rant then tough luck.
But both sides in this debate need some perspective, and maturity !
Last edited by fire wall; 22nd Sep 2011 at 22:00.