Why can't controllers add a conditional statement to their "standby" response. Is that "standby" for 20 seconds.... or 1 minute (while I check with)......or 5 minutes (because of congestion at....) ?
When I ask for a heading (or miles off track), I usually add my estimate for however many miles I expect to need that clearance. e:g "request heading 090 due weather, we will need that for about 60 miles" etc. The Controller (and other aircraft) then know what we are actually planning on doing for the next 5-10 minutes.
When HKG Delivery just says "standby"... you are left totally in suspense.
Does that mean I need to sit on a knife edge, with my thumb poised on the transmit switch... Or, can I sit back and ask the Crew if I can get another cup tea. There are many things on the Flight deck, which take 2 minutes of focused attention. Maybe, if there is a 3-5 minute delay we could get these out of the way.
So many CX flights are used for Line Flying Under Supervision. I will not post the flight numbers here, but they are well known. With a known 5 minute delay, a very effective 2-3 minutes of training could be carried out ... a heads up for the departure, quick review of something in the pre-flight setup etc. But with the flat "standby.....", we all sit still doing nothing.
Personally when they say "standby", I now start the clock for 5 minutes and carry on with the rest of my life. If, after 5 minutes, nothing has happened then I will call " XXX, standing by". I estimate that 10-20% of the time, we have been forgotten about.
It would be really helpful if the Controller would say "Standby.. a couple of minutes", or ""standby, checking with Ground" etc.
There are a couple of Controllers who do add information to their comments. However, I find that these are only the very familiar Expat voices, which we all know over the past 10 or 20 years. From the local voices, there is no concept of understanding that they are dealing with people. For them it is a simple video game. I command "standby" to these video robots, while I line up the next set of issues.
It is just a question of time, before HKG turns into another 3rd world airport, just like PVG or PEK. The concept of the 3rd runway adding any effective capacity is a total joke. HKG Government procrastination and red tape, will kill all of that.
God help us all.