Misdagain : yes, thanks, and apologies. I see what you mean now. Never much good at English, that is why my first career choices were (1) Lawyer, (2)Politician. Also, never had the privilage of flying under FAA rules. In the UK, at the time, dispatchers were not licenced. All the support staff did their best and offered up a service from which the Captain made the final decisions and was held culpable.Unless these guys were ex mill, liked boats and had funny hand-shakes, in the UK, they would have been flamed !