Personal Statements

EMPATHY

Like many things in aviation, communication is a shared responsibility. Safe, effective communication requires empathy for others

It happened that a very strong American or British accent or a too fast communication between the two of us sometimes has been an annoying factor to correctly understand the meaning of the sentence. In my view, an excessive confidence in speaking English by the native speaker added to a poorer confidence of the non native speaker might be a possible further cause of miscommunication. ITALIAN PILOT

When flying in English speaking countries, the controllers take for granted that you will understand their slang, also in minor airports they tend to refer to some uncharted reporting points assuming that you're familiar or even worse to make procedures up without publishing them. SPANISH PILOT

They tend to speak to fast, lack empathy, and give no second chances in RT transmissions, they want you to get it right the first time. TANZANIAN PILOT

JFK is perhaps the worst airspace to deal with ATC. Rude, unethical controllers. PILOT, UAE

Communication was too fast, unclear and communicator was impatient. FRENCH PILOT

I know of many incidents in which ATC spoke too quickly and didn't have patience with EFL speakers. ATC just needs to slow down and be patient. It would save them time and eliminate confusion that might cause an incident. US PILOT

A couple of times with this controller from Bahrain and he made us feel stupid because what I asked him to speak slower because my Arab colleague did not understand, he purposely spoke way too slow as if we were mentally retarded! Very very bad attitude. ITALIAN PILOT

Especially in the US, where jargon and slang is part of their standard way of communication. This includes speaking fast and the assumption that everyone on the planet is as familiar and proficient as US persons. SWISS PILOT

Normally they just throw away data without the aim to actually communicate. SPANISH PILOT

Some native speakers do not even bother to speak distinctly, assuming that the rest of the world should understand everything they say. Non-native English speakers, being aware of their limitations, are more attentive. BULGARIAN ATCO

When a non native English speaker requests ‘speak slowly’ or ‘say again’ and the native speaker gets impatient and angry, there should be consequences for him/her. TURKISH PILOT

Some native speakers would possibly have an ignorant attitude to non native speakers. Instead of being extra cautious and trying to make sure the non native speaker understands, at times ignorance can take over. BRITISH PILOT

Many controllers fail to recognize or disregard that the pilot might be foreign. ITALIAN PPL

English speakers should try to help non native English aviators by pronouncing more clear and being more empathetic in order to avoid misunderstandings and to expedite communication. SPANISH PILOT

Since English is the common language, they (native speakers) do not have to learn a new language so they do not know how non native speaker feels like or how they struggle understanding the language.YEMENI PILOT

We can think about a 3-legged race. Non native English speakers will have a shorter leg and native speakers will have a longer leg but a shorter step. In this way we we can walk together. ITALIAN PILOT

It is not easy for a non-native speaker to first think and then express what he/she want to say in a language that is not their own. ITALIAN PILOT

Unfortunately I have witnessed colleagues who made fun of / bullied non native English speakers’ accent, even while flying. GREEK PILOT