Personal Statements
RATE OF SPEECH
ICAO requires 100 words per
minute (or slightly slower when
we know that the listener will
write down the information)
Most of my students have had difficulties
understanding native English speakers
because the delivery of the speech was done
hastily. In fact, most of them claimed that the
most terrifying experience had been when
communicating with native American English
speakers.
ARGENTINE INSTRUCTOR
Sometimes when flying in really
busy airspaces, ATC needs to deal
with many aircraft at same time
and transmits messages way too
fast, forgetting that some pilots
couldn’t understand it, even native
English speakers. Being a fast
speaker sometimes may not
represent being fast on airspace
control. BRAZILIAN PILOT
I would like to share a personal encounter with
ramp agents in New York. Upon arrival we had to
talk to them to get our gate, they talk fast and
usually use non-standard phraseology. Native
speakers will understand them perfectly but for
non native speakers like myself that could
create confusion and add unnecessary stress
especially after a long flight. HONG KONG PILOT
Especially when flying in
the UK. They talk very fast
and incomprehensible,
using a lot of unfamiliar
terms and talk by slang.
SERBIAN PILOT
Yes, when pilot experiencing a
dangerous situation, he speaks
quickly and uses general
language. ALGERIAN ATCO
New York and Chicago in a
particular, accent and speed.
KUWAITI PILOT
Yes I operate ex Eidw to EU and
USA. Dublin control speaks fast
or too much data of irrelevance,
same in NY where ground
congestion and vernacular can be
highly challenging and even
dangerous due potential A/c or
ground objects conflict. IRISH PILOT
Today, flying from North
Germany to South Germany I
listened to several
transmissions, where a read
back (sometimes repeated more
than once) was necessary
because controller read out
the frequency too fast. The
German controller was
imitating an American accent
and I instantly thought he
was trying to imitate a fast
speaking American controller.
BRITISH PILOT
If non standard situation
occurs, native speakers start
speaking very fast, use their
own accent and pronunciation.
BULGARIAN ATCO
Due to speak fast and unclear
about reporting points, familiar for
local controller but not for
occasional charter pilots...using
slang of course out of any standard
phraseology. ITALIAN PILOT
In the US, the
controllers speak
ridiculously fast, as
if it's some kind of
competition.
BRITISH PILOT