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In the past decade, aviation has seen amazing advances in airframes, avionics and propulsion. Fiber of incredible strength and smoothness is used for construction of the fuselage, wing and tail surfaces. Flat glass panels with embedded electronics provide all the necessary flight parameters and communications data for our flying reference. The fuel-stingy diesel engine has been engineered to power aircraft soon to be available on the market. Higher performance general aviation aircraft and more sophisticated avionics require more use of Air Traffic Control facilities, or, in other words, more communications.
We have made the advances in the material world of aviation, and now we need to review and revise pilot communications. Time to talk with a controller is a precious commodity. Has there ever been a time when you didn't get to key your mic because of the incessant chatter? Of course! As one controller noted: "I've found that bad phraseology wastes on average 63 minutes of each ATC air-hour." In short, we need to eliminate redundant, inappropriate, unnecessary and incorrect words and phrases in our replies and call-ups over the radio.
For starters, we can delete these words from our phraseology: "This is," "with you," "ah," "at," "feet," "knots," "degrees" and "looking."
A call-up that starts with "Montgomery ground this is Piper 91630…" should be replaced with "Montgomery ground Piper 91630…" Of course this has to be Piper 91630. Who else would it be with the same N-number? (We can delete the "N" from the beginning of U.S. registration numbers in our transmissions.)
"So Cal Approach Cessna 6360D with you on 124.35." Are you with the controller at the tracon console? No! The only people you may be with are your passengers.
"Ah, Palomar tower, ah, this is Cessna 172RW, ah, over, ah, let's see where am I, ah…" Please! We all would like to strangle that guy.
Words such as "at," "and," "an," and "a" all are candidates for elimination. When giving your altitude, would "at four thousand feet" be clearer to the controller then simply "four thousand?" We're not using meters (yet).
Which brings us to "feet," 'knots" and "degrees." "Five thousand feet," "180 knots," or "one six zero degrees" take almost twice as long to say when the units are added. Except in rare cases, clarity of response is not affected without the units.
A radar controller needs to hear your altitude on initial contact. To avoid a request for your altitude, give it after a hand-off, such as: "So Cal Cessna 4975F 5,000."
After receiving a traffic advisory, have you ever heard a pilot reply: "Thank you, but I am not going to scan for that traffic"? I don't think so. Of course you are "looking" and do not have to tell that to the controller. There are only two replies to a traffic advisory: "Traffic in sight" if you see the traffic or "negative contact" if you do not see the traffic. If you say "negative contact" because you are in instrument meteorological conditions, you should add "IMC". This will let the controller know they may discontinue advisories. "Popeye" and "no joy" are not included in this list. Those responses are relevant only if you are strapped into something like an F-18 and wear the military wings on your uniform.
"Roger" means "I have received all of your last transmission." It should not be used to answer a question requiring a yes or no answer. "Affirmative" is the correct reply for "yes," and "negative" is the proper response for "no." For example, if approach control says "Malibu 63Q altimeter three zero zero two," an appropriate response from the pilot would be: "Malibu 63Q roger." A reply of "Roger that" is cute, not professional, and takes twice as long to say.
Other cute replies that have not been heard recently (thank goodness!) are "I have Information Echo, Echo, Echo…" and "I have the booze news" (Information Whisky). Also, unless you want a lecture on inappropriateness until you are out of receiver range, never say to a controller "Ten-four, good buddy."
After the first contact with the controller, drop all but the last 3 characters of the identification. Think of the time saved an each transmission by reducing "Duchess November six zero zero niner kilo" to "Duchess zero niner kilo."
Transmission time, however, cannot be reduced when replying to "hold short" instructions. The entire instruction must be read back. For example, "Piper 06N hold short runway 28 left" cannot be reduced to a "roger" or a "Piper 06N" The controller will keep asking until you read back the entire instruction, so you may as well read it back completely on the first reply.
Another reply by that can be used more by pilots is "Wilco." Wilco means I have received your message, understand it and will comply with it. For example, if the controller says "Archer 03A follow the yellow Piper Cub to transient parking on the south side of taxiway hotel," are you going to read all that back word for word? No. Just say "Archer 03A wilco."
After changing to a new frequency, listen for a few seconds before beginning your transmission. Assure yourself that no one else is talking. If you step on the transmission of someone else, neither transmission will be heard and the parties will have to start over again.
You should have the idea by now. Less is better. A few seconds saved on every reply can add up to minutes saved on every hour and hours saved on every day. I'm certain you have heard (but not used) many more examples. With fewer redundant, inappropriate, unnecessary and incorrect responses, the frequencies will be less crowded with chatter and you may be able to click your mic sooner.
You can begin to practice your newly revised skills on your next departure at Montgomery. Will it be: "Montgomery ground control this is Archer November four seven eight eight five at Gibbs Flying Service with Information Delta. We are ready to taxi for takeoff?" Or will it be: "Montgomery ground Archer four seven eight eight five Gibbs Delta taxi takeoff?"
As a closing observation, pilots are not the only ones responsible for long words or extra syllables in our communications. The ICAO phonetic alphabet is a big contributor. How long does it take to say 3 syllable identifiers such as Juliett, November, Romeo, Sierra and Uniform? Much time would be saved if all the letters were as short as Golf and Mike. Perhaps ICAO can reconvene their international commission to revise each letter in the phonetic alphabet to 1 syllable. Is that too much to ask?
Roger, over and out (just kidding)!
Gus Schwartz is an airplane owner, wonderful flight instructor and active in Plus One Flyers, one of the largest flying clubs in the U.S., based in San Diego.
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Aviation Training