As an aviation geek, I love listening to air traffic control audio, and always enjoy the VASAviation YouTube channel, which does a great job covering noteworthy air traffic control interactions.
The channel has just uploaded a video involving an interaction between an air traffic controller at New York Kennedy Airport (JFK) and an Aeromexico pilot. The interaction between the two gets heated, but I have a bigger takeaway based on this overall interaction…
Aeromexico pilot & JFK air traffic controller get into it
This incident happened at around 2AM on August 25, 2024, at Kennedy Airport. There was a single air traffic controller working delivery, ground, and tower, and he had his hands full, with a lot of parties (frankly) being annoying. I’ll talk more about that in a bit, but first let’s talk about the interaction that’s most noteworthy.
An Aeromexico Boeing 737 MAX 8 with the flight number AM401 was preparing to depart to Mexico City (MEX). While the aircraft was being given taxi clearance, there was a minor misunderstanding, which wasn’t a big deal (but I still think it’s important context, since the Aeromexico pilot is in the wrong here):
ATC: “Aeromexico 401, cross runway 31R at echo, follow the 777 ANA on charlie.”
Pilot: “Okay, cross runway 13R on echo, and follow the heavy on charlie, Aeromexico 401.”
ATC: “It’s not 13R, it’s 31R or 13L.”
Pilot: You said 13R, but it’s 13L, okay.”
ATC: “No, you said 13R, I said ‘cross 31R,’ Aeromexico 401.”
Pilot: “Okay 31R or 13L, Aeromexico 401.”
However, it gets really heated when takeoff clearance is given:
ATC: Aeromexico 401, wind 230 at 7, caution wake turbulence, runway 22R, cleared for takeoff.”
Pilot: “Can we wait one minute, just for caution, Aeromexico 401?”
ATC: “Okay, Aeromexico 401, cancel your instructions and hold short of 22R. For future reference, you have to let me know before you get to the runway, okay? We only use five miles, and the aircraft is already five miles away, and the runway is two miles long. That’s seven miles.”
Pilot: “Hello sir, this is the captain of the Aeromexico. I think you are the one that has to relax cause you are with a very bad mood with everybody. And we are going to wait two more minutes because it’s a heavy. I don’t care if it’s five miles or something. We’re gonna wait two more minutes.”
ATC: “Aeromexico 401, that is your prerogative, but you have to let the ground controller know, in that case me, before you’re at the runway, okay?”
Pilot: “Roger, but just look out your mood, sir.”
ATC: “No. You want a number for the tower, Aeromexico 401?”
Pilot: “No, thank you very much, I don’t want it. I’m just telling you, you are saying us to relax, you have to relax also.”
ATC: “I didn’t say relax, at all, to you. Not a single time, Aeromexico 401. If you’d like the number for the tower, I can give you a number. You want a number to the tower?”
Pilot: “No, thank you very much.”
ATC: “Okay, so don’t key up and say relax to me, alright?”
Pilot: “Okay.”
You can hear the interaction for yourself below.
My take on this ATC disagreement
So, I have a lot of thoughts on this situation. First of all, this air traffic controller is working his rear off, handling delivery, ground, and tower, at one of the world’s busiest airports. Sure, it’s the middle of the night, but the airport also has a fair amount of traffic over those hours. How much stress to put on a single controller.
It’s not just the volume of the traffic that the controller is dealing with that’s overwhelming, but also the lack of precision of the parties he’s dealing with:
- First the Aeromexico pilot incorrectly reads back instructions, which isn’t a huge deal, but the Aeromexico pilot comes across as having an attitude, saying “you said 13R,” when the controller didn’t
- Then the Copa pilot doesn’t do a great job with reading back the clearance instructions
- Listening to the Delta maintenance guy trying to communicate over the radio is B-R-U-T-A-L
- You have the Southern Cargo pilots requesting pushback clearance, when that’s not actually needed
- You have the Korean Air pilots repeatedly requesting clearance prematurely — “Korean that’s calling, you’re calling early, like every night, I have nothing for you, no flight plan”
- Then you have the Southern Cargo pilots responding to the Korean Air pilots, thinking that the Korean pilot is the air traffic controller, or something
Seriously, this dude’s job is stressful enough, and it sure doesn’t help that roughly every other call is either unnecessary or inaccurate. Also, context is important — this guy is a New Yorker, and by New Yorker standards, he actually doesn’t come across as rude to me. Heck, by those (admittedly very low) standards, he almost seems patient.
Lastly, telling any air traffic controller to “relax,” let alone in New York, isn’t ever going to be well received. Like, I’m pretty sure anyone with a spouse can attest to that not being a great strategy.
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with the Aeromexico pilot wanting to err on the side of caution and wait a moment for takeoff. He probably should’ve let the controller know earlier, but figured it wasn’t a big issue, since it’s not that busy in the middle of the night. When the controller told him to announce those intentions earlier in the future, he should’ve just said “sorry about that” or “okay,” and moved on with his day, in my opinion.
Bottom line
Air traffic controllers have stressful jobs, and that’s especially true for the guy working the graveyard shift at JFK, as he handles delivery, ground, and tower, all on his own. That’s tough enough under normal circumstances, let alone when so many people on the frequency are making errors.
An Aeromexico pilot decided to tell the controller he should relax, and as you might expect, that wasn’t particularly well received. The interaction ended with the Aeromexico pilot agreeing not to tell the air traffic controller to relax. Lol…
What do you make of this situation, and who do you think is in the right?