Misunderstanding ATC instructions
 

I work for an airline that has constant problems with misunderstanding ATC instructions, mainly due to their lack of English proficiency. The simple answer is to improve their language skills and the company fully supports that aim with free classes. As we all know this is a very long term project and the 'older' pilots may have a hard time coming up to standard.

My question is what do you think the most effective way would be to improve understanding in the ATC envirnoment?


Thank you

I think the "simple" way as described by you is the best, if done correctly. By that I mean full company support/organization, classes run as duty time etc, not a dictaphone to take home after work, or a voucher to an "English as a second language" class. Ideally the organization the company gets to run the classes will have experience running classes for aviation.

To begin with, I feel that controllers speaking frequently in their native tongue adds to confusion and congestion. From my experience, most ATC specialists speak pretty good English. Another annoyance of mine is the use in some Asian country's of 121.5 for a chit chat frequency, a little education is necessary.

Purely from th UK point of view .
We in the UK should have less differences in procedures ,services, airspace rules ,etc, than our european colleagues, then ,hopefully foreign pilots will be able to understand a little better. Only IMHO ,please don't all rush to jump down my throat :)

I agree with Airac.
All controlled airspace should be class A.
Im waiting for the torrent of abuse now!

Hello SRS

Let me add a few thoughts from my point of view, e. g. the view of a non-native speaker.

From my own experience, it is sometimes tricky to understand strong accents, fast language or slang. The only cure for that problem, however, seems to be practise. I could improve my listening comprehension mainly by watching DVDs. Whenever I don't understand a word or sentence, I rewind, turn on the subtitle, read, and write a flash card. This might not be a solution specific to the ATC context, but I feel that improving my English in general has also helped me understanding radio calls better.

Another problem refers to mental calculus. Most people calculate in their first language, even when they have lived abroad for a long time an begun to think in the foreign language. Hence the workload for non-native speakers is higher at that point, as they do translate numbers in mind. However, finding a solution for that problem seems difficult. Discipline and organising ones thoughts might be keywords here.

Last but not least there should be no false pride in the cockpit. Pilots should be encouraged to use 'say again' and 'speak slower', which are indeed standard phrases. Though I have to admit that this won't improve understanding at all, rather on the contrary.

Cheers

hvogt

I´d suggest to use as much standard phraseology as possible! It was created to prevent misunderstandings...wasn´t it?!

Thank you Hvogt and indeed everyone. The major problem we have is that the national pilots would never dream of speaking English outside (and sometimes in) the cockpit. Practise is what all language is about. You are absolutly correct in pointing out that standard phrasology is key in the simplification of the language, the trouble is JFK (or most of the USA), China, S. America and many others do not make it easy for non-English speakers.

Why not get some ATCOs or ATS providers involved in your education problem? They might then have a little more understanding of the problem and also have some good suggestions for improving matters all round. It could help improve working relationships with them.