Pucka,
As a Yank, absolutely agree. I fly world-wide, in a Global, not a Boeing/Airbii, but US airports, for the uninitiated, are a disaster. You MUST know arcane procedures, local landmarks and patterns and, if you're not, there's he11 to pay. My favorite example is KTEB, where the tower refers to the "Holland tunnel" as a VFR landmark. First time, I said, "it's a tunnel, I'm in a plane". Thirty years ago, BA crews were commenting on why the Ynks put the Cat III ILS in the shortest runway. Hasn't changed, either.