What are stupid things that pilots do that bug you?

[Yycaviator]

YYZ Tower perspective:
Changing frequencies before being told to do so on both ground and tower; would you change enroute?

From a pilots perspective this is actually a little more complex then you would imagine depending on which airport you are at (in Canada). Some examples so you know why this might happen:

Vancouver expects you to know when to change from GND to TWR. The only aircraft they seem to specifically tell to switch frequencies are foreign carriers. And when you do switch to tower, telling them you are there is frowned upon while at other Canadian airports you would be sitting short forever as the TWR is waiting for you to check in ready to go.

Tower to departure changes.... I know the correct answer here is to stay with YYZ tower until handed off but I have made the mistake simply out of habit. Most other airports don't hand you off to departure as it is automatically assumed due to wording in the SID or "contact departure airborne" with the takeoff clearance. YYZ doesn't have that wording so I would be in the wrong to switch automatically. And to my knowledge, CYYZ is one of the few airports that operates like this. So sometimes on the last leg of a 5 leg day, the finger just hits that departure frequency in the backup com. I'll openly admit to being guilty of this once out YYZ.

Just a pilots perspective of how we actually sometimes have to ask ourselves mentally, "what airport am I at?" as each (even though in Canada) have unique little differences that we need to be aware of.

[cossack]

At YYZ we don't want/expect you to say "Hi" on Tower either. We expect you to be there and ready when you get to the end. If you're not ready and you're nearing the front, say something so we can work around you, especially going to 23 nearing H. Don't make the turn if you're not ready.

As for the change from Ground to Tower: there were some signs installed a few years ago and these were so unsuccessful that we give the frequency change after you've past the last conflict point. On 24R there is no sign down there and we don't want you changing until told to do so as we may insert traffic that has been waiting for a flow time ahead of you or give you a specific side to wait on.

Ground to ground changes happen more than we would like. One ground gets busy and misses a frequency change and you come to a stop (most likely leaving AK going B/T or AL going A/AK). If you change to the other ground on your own, the receiving ground does not have your FDE (electronic strip) and if its very busy, can become overwhelmed. I know the split for the grounds sometimes means multiple quick frequency changes. We try to avoid these as much as possible (straight from 121.9 to Apron at AK, or from south Tower to Apron having landed on 6L/R) but sometimes its not possible as we're too busy.

You may think you're helping us out but in fact you're doing the opposite. We try and keep continuous movement by giving sequencing instructions well ahead of time but there are times when there are just too many aircraft moving around to maintain that continuous flow, especially if someone is taxying on one engine at less than half the speed of everyone else.

The switch from Tower to Departure is not automatic and is normally given in the air as we are departing parallel streams and we are responsible for your separation from the other stream. Until YYC's new runway, YYZ was the only airport with consistent, parallel independent departures. Wrong direction turns do happen and its easier to see them visually than on radar and provide corrective action. Imagine being in the air between frequencies when someone makes the wrong turn. TCAS may not save you.

Switching to Departure from 6L/24R when landing right beside is just never done. Unplanned missed approaches will result in some formation flying and that's better handled with everyone on the same frequency. When we are departing just one runway we will say "28.8 airborne" and you'd be surprised at how many don't switch.

[upintheair_]

Something that ATC and other pilots do that bother me is take too long between transmissions. Having flown in larger terminal airspace areas, if you leave a 1-2 seconds of dead air someone else will start broadcasting. In other areas of Canada with high commercial traffic but radio frequencies or MF's, many pilots and ATC take too long between replies. I can't count the amount of times I've waited about 5 seconds of dead air and start my transmission only to end up stepping on ATC or the aircraft they were last talking too. Typically you can tell by what each are saying to know when they are done the exchange but sometimes you listen, and it seems like they should still be talking yet there is dead air. I go hey, OK I guess I'll make my request now only to end up stepping on ATC or the aircraft. Makes ME look like the idiot yet I didn't really do anything wrong.

coles notes: speed up the exchanges in MF and radio areas. 5+ seconds between replies is too long and being used to flying in busy busy airspace it's super frustrating.

[Yycaviator]

If ATC doesn't answer it usually means they are "on the other line" with another controller.

As a pilot, the thing I find most annoying is pilots who switch to the freq and instantly transmit without taking a few seconds to see whats going on. That and pilots who call ATC when they have just given another AC and instruction and need a readback.

[Braun]

Something that ATC and other pilots do that bother me is take too long between transmissions. Having flown in larger terminal airspace areas, if you leave a 1-2 seconds of dead air someone else will start broadcasting. In other areas of Canada with high commercial traffic but radio frequencies or MF's, many pilots and ATC take too long between replies. I can't count the amount of times I've waited about 5 seconds of dead air and start my transmission only to end up stepping on ATC or the aircraft they were last talking too. Typically you can tell by what each are saying to know when they are done the exchange but sometimes you listen, and it seems like they should still be talking yet there is dead air. I go hey, OK I guess I'll make my request now only to end up stepping on ATC or the aircraft. Makes ME look like the idiot yet I didn't really do anything wrong.

coles notes: speed up the exchanges in MF and radio areas. 5+ seconds between replies is too long and being used to flying in busy busy airspace it's super frustrating.

If I'm busy and don't answer it's because I am talking to someone else. Why would a controller purposely wait a few seconds? Mastering frequency control is a requirement to check out and we would never purposely do what you described above!

[upintheair_]

If ATC doesn't answer it usually means they are "on the other line" with another controller.

As a pilot, the thing I find most annoying is pilots who switch to the freq and instantly transmit without taking a few seconds to see whats going on. That and pilots who call ATC when they have just given another AC and instruction and need a readback.

No you don't understand what I mean. I'm taking about a radio frequency with a conversation going back and forth. Large long pauses between transmissions make it hard to know when you can make your call. Are they done? Are they not? I'm not talking about terminal or centre. I know if they don't answer they are usually on another line.