Pilots Commendations

[veloo maniam]

Hello Guardians of the skies...
Pilots once in awhile commend you for the good job done eg good job, good vectorings etc.... The question is..Is it really necessary and does these comments help/encourage/motivate you? What sayest thou?
As Ctlers, we cant tell the pilot..good flying keep it up.:O

[172_driver]

But at times ATC do thank you for an efficient reduction of speed, S-turns etc. to help them out with separation :)

[Ninja Controller]

I occasionally get called "Sir", much to the amusement of my colleagues and I.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I've thanked pilots many times.. no harm if the guy helps you.

[30W]

Likewise I've phoned the Watch Spvr (TC orAC) and asked for my thanks to be passed to the appropriate sector, does NO harm having received excellent help (complex weather avoidance etc) in a 'humming sector' to pass on a word of post flight thanks without blolcking a busy frequency at the time :-)

[chevvron]

When providing LARS, I often used to thank pilots for acceeding to my requests to turn/climb/descend/level off so as to enable IFR traffic to be vectored.(NB They can ONLY be requests in class G airspace, not instructions as some less experienced controllers seem to think since I retired)

[NudgingSteel]

I'll often say "thank you" to a pilot for helping out with an expeditious departure, a speed reduction, or just being patient whilst traffic on tight CTOTs departs ahead of them! Especially as most pilots happily assist without complaining - it's nice to occasionally let them know they're appreciated...

[veloo maniam]

Many a times I have said thank you for the helps.
There are times too when the most pleasant voices
can immediately turn unpleasant if a sequence is changed
or a vectoring imposed. I always wondered whether they
'forgot' the days we had help them save much fuel and brought
them ahead of their schedules.:confused: