Unprofessional controllers

[J32driver]

F'cking LOVE ORD! Best controllers in the world. Only 2 rules to remember... NEVER call outbound ground.... and NEVER stop moving. Oh yeah... Roger rocks. Used to love talking to him and never being able to get in the last word...EVER!

F'cking HATE IAD. BUY a frickin metering frequency!!! Why do I have to talk to 3 different ground controllers to taxi down one parallel taxiway? Oh yeah... and don't expect me to try and land 1 1/2 miles behind a 757. I'll go around every time... you morons!!!

MKE... controllers are fine... but the traffic flow for arrivals has been jacked up ever since they took over the airspace up to 13,000. Don't know what the problem is, but they have a complete inablity to send an airplane in the direction it really needs to go. Coming from the south... gonna land on 25L... why don't you turn left direct MSN and then we'll set you up on a downwind for 25L. When you can see AZO... we'll turn you base. When you cross the shoreline of Wisconsin again... we MIGHT clear you for the visual.

 

[PropsR4Boats]

Yes Rodger retired about a year ago but then he came right back. He says he doesn’t know when he will leave. Would also say when he gave you a change…”thanks for being my neighbor.”

 

[Mookie]

The IAH guys are great, don't know what ya'll are talking about. I've even been up for a tour to the tower and with approach. Hell...we even invited them for our "Thank god we don't have to fly to Victoria ever again" party. I do have to say...not to bash, but I havn't heard so many people step on other people as the CAl and Express Jet guys do. Patience, younge jedi's...

Mookie

 

[ERfly]

Also the only airport I can think of where you have to call CLEARANCE to taxi every time.

That get's to be a pain in the a$$. Especially if you're at the gate and a PDC doesn't come up. You can't get a word in to get a clearance during a big push. Then, when you are ready to taxi, the guy in front of you had his flight plan drop out of the system, so you have to wait for him to get his new clearance. Meanwhile, you're ready to go. It's a stupid system.

 

[flap operator]

CVG sucks for the fact that they get all balled up when it's busy. On a perfectly clear, nice, day you're turning 20 mile finals. Not to mention the whole 40-50 miles out slow to 250 'cause they're going to stick you at 9000 outside DAY crap. CLE, STL also get my vote for awful ones.DTW rocks and are usually super cool, esp to Mesaba. MSP is great trying to pack into 2 rwys tons of traffic. MSP sucks though when they don't use meetering properly. It makes no sense to have the controler working meetering, clnce and ground. When they're using the 30s it's a bottleneck to try and leave cricle 79 and enter the ramp on 99. Never had a problem in ATL, ORD, EWR but the boyz in PHL are kinda goofy. But I suppose they're just trying to deal with a rwy nightmare.

Some enroute controllers are just bad too. THe worst was MEM center climbing out of MEM on our way to BNA. He clears us direct Grahm for the Grahm arrival. Then a few minutes later he gives us a heading to fly and said "Mesaba 35XX turn right heading 180, so I can get a real plane with real pilots around you guys." I was so mad I was speechless.


FO

 

[General Lee]

ORD doesn't seem to bother me; doesn't matter where you're taxiing just do it fast. NY airports are great.


IAH........ part of the problem and the reason guys screw up taxi instructions is that they don't use taxiway names when giving instructions. If you're not based there and they say take "A" when it's actually "NA" you may miss it. Also the only airport I can think of where you have to call CLEARANCE to taxi every time.

You call Clearance first in BOS most of the time too before push or when ready to taxi.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Capt. Caucasian]

You call Clearance first in BOS most of the time too before push or when ready to taxi.


Bye Bye--General Lee

General,

Since the 756 does not go to IAH you probably have not been there in a while so I shall explain a little bit. Being IAH based myself I don't see any big deal but I can understand how this can get wierd. SOP in IAH is to call ramp to push then call ramp when ready to taxi. Ramp issues a spot number to taxi to and upon reachinf said spot contact clearance. Sitting at say spot one you call clearance with the info they say monitor ground 118.57. Now you wait to be called and issued taxi instructions from ground. Basically it is just like ground metering.

Frank,
How bout it? Shoot me an email or PM me, I'll be moving to ATL in the next couple of months.

 

[SlapShot]

I have heard that IAD is a training facility. I do not know if that is true but that would certainly explain how the controllers get confused so easily and then get short with you when you question their idiotic taxi instructions. The other day it took us 50 minutes to go from Spot 105 to RWY 30. I believe every airplane Independence owns taxied by us holding short of Zulu.

PIT has some of the coolest controllers. I miss going in and and out of that place. I would love being "cleared for an immediate departure, traffic on a 2 mile final". IAD does not put you on the runway if there is another airplane within 5 miles of the runway. Also the PIT controllers just have a cool attitude. Although I could deal without having a "Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccccccccceeeeee Day."

 

[acaTerry]

The night crew at IAD ramp...love those guys! Classic IAD Ramp:

One night back in 1999 there was a BIG fire to the east of UAd and every guy contacting ramp would ask about the fire. Every single one.
Well, after a while the ramp gets tired of repeating himself and just goes "Attentiona all aircraft, Dulles Ramp, the fire to the east of Dulles is your crashpad....YES YOU LEFT THE OVEN ON".

 

[JohnQ]

Best controllers--ATL. Close second would be a tie between BOS, LGA (tower only), and ORD. Yes we all have our gripes (especially Miss Cleo in LGA, which is why I did not nominate LGA ground) but they all do a good job in very busy airports with limited acreage--especially LGA.

Worst controllers--FLL Gnd, BY FAR. I realize they have only one airline-usable runway, because the NIMBYs in FLL don't want 9R extended, but even so, they suck. I have rarely seen so much ground traffic screwed up by completely incompetent controllers, and for no reason. I've held short of a ramp exit point waiting for some propjob to pass me by, wenh they haven't even exited 9L yet. Then when they do finally pass us, ground ctrl has already forgotten we were waiting for them.

Etc. Etc. CVG could use improvement, in that they seem incapable of less than five mile spacing between departing and arriving traffic--though they have gotten better compared to a few years ago.

 

[Godfather]

PIT has some of the coolest controllers. I miss going in and and out of that place. I would love being "cleared for an immediate departure, traffic on a 2 mile final". IAD does not put you on the runway if there is another airplane within 5 miles of the runway. Also the PIT controllers just have a cool attitude. Although I could deal without having a "Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccccccccceeeeee Day."[/QUOTE]

By far PIT is one of the best in the country. Especially with the "CCCEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAA BYE!!! guy that rides the Harley with the pony tail. He also works up in SBN. ATL and ORD are awesome too. Is Buzz in ATL?

Ms Cleo sure knows how to ruin a wet dream in LGA. She needs to stick with her part time Psychic hotline job...it fits her better.

 

[V-STALL]

CLE bites the big one! Double downwind, 30+ miles, slow to 170, what do you mean you can't accept that in icing conditions, fly you right up someones ass, no plowing the runway SUCKING airport!


And I think I held a couple of things back.

 

[Biatch5]

ORD doesn't seem to bother me; doesn't matter where you're taxiing just do it fast. NY airports are great.


IAH........ part of the problem and the reason guys screw up taxi instructions is that they don't use taxiway names when giving instructions. If you're not based there and they say take "A" when it's actually "NA" you may miss it. Also the only airport I can think of where you have to call CLEARANCE to taxi every time.

Agreed

 

[Ron Mexico]

Wow!!!.......you have got to be the biggest loser I've seen on this board yet....all you do is complain about regional pilots over and over again!! Whats the matter your wife isn't home so you can't throw a beatin' into her??? You are really one class act! I can't wait till your pension runs out and you can't pay your internet bill anymore!...that would make my day LOSER!

no the problem is his WIFE is WITH a XJT pilot.....

 

[Standby 1]

Probably due to all the inexperienced XJet pilots there.

Beats being senile like you old farts who can't even wake up long enough to answer a radio call.

 

[anon]

No contest - ATL has the best

No Contest!


ATL has the best controllers around ... friendly and efficient.

On the other hand...

CHS APCH has the worst. They hammer weekend pilots all of the time because they can get away with it. They've tried to get smart with working pilots and had it handed right back to them. They're like schoolyard bullies. They like to pick on the little guys, but when someone who knows their game gets back in their face, they back down like wimps.

 

[Hung Start]

Got to go with BOS folk being pretty cool. Just allways seem to have the mix flowing just right. Ms.Cleo in LGA,, well,,, affirmative action, don't ya know. BEST smaller group has got to be PWM. Hands down.

 

[DX Rick]

DPA- DuPage Airport. The only place I know that will make G-IV go around because of a Warrior.

3 sperate times they have given position and hold instructions while I was on final
Traffic isnt over whelming, compared to the areas like ORD and IAD, but these guys talk to you as if you were bothering them.

 

[Z28_Pilot]

no the problem is his WIFE is WITH a XJT pilot.....

It's all starting to make sense now

 

[skyslug]

BOS tower is fantastic! ATL, ORD, DCA also great. CVG is doing much better, and squeezing departures out between landings which is why we are always 5 miles in trail on final.

RDU...well, "Slow to 160" then not more than 3 seconds "I need you to pick it back up to 200", then within a heartbeat "Slow to final approach speed, you're following a Cherokee"..."go around". This scenario seems to happen a lot...

 

[SlapShot]

RDU...well, "Slow to 160" then not more than 3 seconds "I need you to pick it back up to 200", then within a heartbeat "Slow to final approach speed, you're following a Cherokee"..."go around". This scenario seems to happen a lot...

Perhaps they were trained by Potomac approach.

I have never been a controller but is it that hard to coordinate speeds between the initial approach controller you talk to and the final controller. I can not count how many times I (in a freakin SAAB) have been told to do 220 by one just prior to the handoff and then told to slow to 170 by the final controller. Is a Saab catching a mighty jet too quickly????

 

[Vector4fun]

I have never been a controller but is it that hard to coordinate speeds between the initial approach controller you talk to and the final controller. I can not count how many times I (in a freakin SAAB) have been told to do 220 by one just prior to the handoff and then told to slow to 170 by the final controller. Is a Saab catching a mighty jet too quickly????

Not working at one of the airports catching flack here, I can't offer a first person explanation, but in general:

Some folks you work with, and some you work around, ya know? I work with folks who take my feed just like it was their own plan to begin with and work a great final with very gradual speed adjustments.

Then other times I work with folks who I can't figure out at all, take a "natural" sequence and screw it up 3 ways for no good reason, cram everybody 220 kts until 2 1/2 in trail and then beg for "final approach speed". Hey, I didn't check 'em out.

It's not easy to talk to each other when busy though. Most every time one tries to talk to the other, there's a turn on to me made or an aircraft on one of the 4 freqs we're working.

I love to work finals, it's my favorite position. If I'm getting a decent feed, I can use 220 on dowwind, 190 on base, 170 to the FAF all day long and it's boring it's so easy and predictable. Do the turn ons about 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 in trail and compression will give you 2 1/2-3 miles at the runway, unless the wind is really screwy.

Visuals are a lot more "non-standard" because we get so many non- jets and non-professionals to fit in the sequence in good weather.

 

[V-STALL]

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned VNY. I thought these guys were pretty cool!

 

[MJG]

I'll second or third or fourth or whatever number we're on for the folks in IAD. Once got assigned 4 different runways there in a span of less than 10 minutes. After the 4th assignment, I lost it and went off on whoever was working the freq at that moment. We then got to here some stern, long winded explanation about how runways are assigned to best meet traffic, yada, yada, yada from a completely different voice.

 

[OPECJet]

All except for a couple of CLT guys.

Approaching CTF... Slow to 170.
Over CTF....Hold as published, EFC 30 mins after you run out of gas...
After calling min fuel.... Resume own nav, mainted 210 kts.
Calling final controller... Slow to 170...
1 min later..pick it up to 190....
1 min after that.. "we have CAE in sight"
Another minute goes by.... "turn right to 030 and join the 36R loc, descend and maintain 4 thousand, 170 to a 5 mile final..."
8 miles out... reduce to 150
3 miles out... reduce to slowest practical speed, B767 holding in position
1 mile out... Can you give me a shallow S turn?
On the ground?... Turn left at Romeo..

Next flight in....rinse and repeat... Unless the auctioneer is working. Then its smooth sailing...

 

[EX_CV580FR8Dawg]

MKE TRACON...I am a bit biased though

 

[pianoman]

DPA- DuPage Airport. The only place I know that will make G-IV go around because of a Warrior.

3 sperate times they have given position and hold instructions while I was on final
Traffic isnt over whelming, compared to the areas like ORD and IAD, but these guys talk to you as if you were bothering them.

Forgot about that one. WAY too much attitude for what they're doing, mostly from the ground controllers, I've noticed. Tower hasn't bothered me much.

 

[Skywest Pylot]

Gotta love the auctioneer!

 

[OPECJet]

No doubt, he does an awesome job.

 

[Baby Cakes]

Robot Man- great name for that MIA controller. LOL...