Relegated to the dust bin. Domestic ATC is often busy, and not exactly a "ship to shore" environment.
What an extraordinary statement, coming from someone who claims:
19,000 hours total time, 14,500 with TWA. Retired late 1990. TERPs Committee and accident investigatgor for ALPA National and to be an Aviation Consultant in U.S. terminal instrument procedures and airspace matters.
Perhaps you could enlighten us all where and when the USA notified an ICAO difference that they would no longer use MAYDAY. Or was it a personal opinion?
In my count "MAYDAY" 3 times is 6 syllables, "this is an emergency" is 7 and I have an emergency is also 7 never mind "I am declaring an emergency."
In my opinion "MAYDAY" gets everybody's attention in a way that the word emergency doesn't.