Language Issues
 

Language issues

There are now very many mixed nationality crews flying in Europe. Although I am a native English speaker, I virtually never fly with another. Along with many other airlines, mine has a policy of English on the flight deck and all communications in English.

However, when we fly in France or Spain we sometimes use “French” or “Spanish” callsigns, being contracted by French or Spanish operators. Under these circumstances it is virtually impossible to consistently receive radio calls in English. At a guess 25% of calls are received in the native language. This often happens when the radio channels are pretty close to being 100% utilised, thus putting an extra stress on an already overloaded system.

It is quite understandable that controllers get into habits of what language to use to what callsigns. And even though I can understand much aviation French or Spanish, calls are missed, and much repeating is still necessary. (Particularly with the eccentric nature of French counting, which I still have difficulty with when delivered at high speed…)

I also note that we are by no means the only crews getting this problem.

Cannot (say) there be a language preference marker be placed on the radar screen (or wherever appropriate for the controllers).

Anyone else got any thoughts on this, but just for now, please leave aside the issue of multiple language use in the first place, that is often discussed, and nothing is likely to change.

This is more a matter of how to ensure being called in your preferred language, from the first call and then consistently, without wasting time on repeats and misunderstandings.

This should not be controversial, and surely is in everyone’s interest.

There's no need for any preference to be indicated as it should be English. End of.

You may state, in the first contact, that you're "English speaking crew". This was working fine for a friend of mine while he was flying in Spain.

Well, if I make my initial call in English, I would think that this is already apparent. But in my experience, even if calls are initiated in English, and responded to in English, subsequent calls are often in French/Spanish. Due to controllers habit - especially with French/Spanish callsigns. This is quite natural and happens particularly when things are getting busy (again, naturally). This is also the time when the subsequent repeating is more disruptive.

What we need is a way of interrupting that habit with particular callsigns. A language marker on the flight plan, or the radar or something. But to interrupt habits, especially when busy, the marker needs to be conspicuous.

Have any controllers got any suggestions how this could be achieved?

Hello, interesting issue, really.

I think we should have in the flight strips some kind of remark, such as "english-speaking" or something like that.

When a spanish company carrier calls in in english, i usually mark it in the flight strip, so i (or my next colleague) can remember later, and when i hand it off to the next frequency i usually tell my collegue: "the spanair in english, with you".

But we should have in the flight plan, i agree.

Best regards.

I find that a nice big "E" or "F" in the callsign box on the strip works wonders! Try doing that with your electronic "strips"! :E

Im with Choclit Runway. It should be English. Full stop. Its so blatantly a safety risk having pilots situationally unaware. I cant really believe it still occurs. :ugh:

China demands its pilots speak better English

BEIJING (Reuters) - Less than a tenth of China's pilots meet international aviation English standards, the airline regulator said on Tuesday, encouraging them to rise to the challenge of bolstering their linguistic skills.

But some pilots have the wrong attitude and are prevaricating, the civil aviation authority said in a statement on its Web site (www.caac.gov.cn).
"The requirement to raise pilot's English abilities comes from a formal decision by the International Civil Aviation Organisation," it quoted deputy aviation minister Li Jian as saying.

"I hope those comrades who have the wrong thinking drop their illusions, don't wait around and don't rely on others, grasp the present good conditions for studying English and dare to fulfil their responsibilities," Li said.

"This will be long, hard, comprehensive work," he said.
At present, only 651 Chinese pilots had passed the English exams, the statement said. That leaves some 8,000 who still need to pass.
China is experiencing a boom in airline travel on the back of its surging economy, but officials have freely admitted service, training and hardware standards have struggled to keep up.

Many Chinese pilots are ex-military and speak little or even no English, though some airlines do now train their new pilots overseas to ensure they have the required language skills, especially ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.