Negotiations with ATC
Flying this morning from TLV to LHR we were ready to push back in good time. The captain got on the tannoy and advised that ATC had given him a 65 minute delay but after negotiations, the delay was cut to five minutes. Indeed we took off pretty much on time and would have landed early were it not for the usual traffic in London.
Why would such a delay be advised initially, especially if it can be 'negotiated' down? Any ideas what was going on in ATC and between cockpit and tower?