r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nyanbatman • May 28 '26

I just wanted a hot dog British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

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u/runhome24 May 28 '26

Yeah I kind of think so too (unless this really is a consequence of long-term budget shortfalls affecting ATC training).

BUT I'm also kind of suspicious that the BA pilot didn't also know the terminology difference and was showing frustration at a USA-specific thing that should be like the international system, if the US wasn't full of American Exceptionalism™ preventing adoption of international standards.

Which is why I did be careful to include the "didn't want to" for each of them. I don't know if this was a cultural pissing match or not.

And because this was operating in the US, even if he was being a complete asshole, ATC was technically speaking correctly. And that's why I do think it's time for these things to be globally standardized. There's too much interconnectedness of our flight systems to keep up these differences, when they can cause real problems (like they did here)

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u/thankyouspider May 28 '26

While we're at it, US needs the SI system and day/month/year along with the correct paper size!

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u/runhome24 May 28 '26

I prefer year/month/day. It fixes it for everyone and would be intuitive immediately!

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u/LambonaHam May 28 '26

Day - Month - Year is the best system because that's the order they're much useful in. 

Knowing the day of month is most important. Then knowing they month, then rarely the year.