Can they do it ?
The problem with most anglo-saxons pilots is not that they don't want to learn a foreign language - it's that they cannot...
As a result, many airlines are flooded with semi-illiterate types from Australia, NZ or US, who nevertheless enjoy an unfair advantage, that they speak THE language. Commonly enough, they didn't find jobs in their national carriers, where they had to suffer more serious competition from their fellow nationals. They would of course have been TOTALLY UNABLE to become pilots having to go through foreign language flight training, be it italian, french, spanish or czech..
It's an extra burden all of us from various countries had to go through, at least to the benefit of our intellectual abilities. But when you are monolingual, you cannot figure that.
Now regarding ATC issues, I have been flying regionals then widebodies for years all over the world, and no, those places where they mix with their languages are not such an issue - anyway, are you really listening to the rest of the R/T ?
I think it's just because anglo-saxons find it annoying - I know it ! - when they have people in the vicinity conversing in another language , probably because it does remind them that there is a life outside, of which they cannot grasp anything, so sad...
I hope to be literate in russian, italian, german and french by the way...
Last edited by Reinhardt; 13th Jun 2014 at 14:07.
Reason: an horrible spelling mistake