I think we should stick to standards. There is enough of a language
problem already, with controllers often speaking poor English and
using sloppy phrases.
I've been cleared for takeoff with "cleared for departure" (this was
Greece) which was probably the most dangerous one. There have been
countless other examples.
On the one hand the pilot is grateful to be able to fly across France
at FL095, VFR, on the VOR-VOR-VOR routes, passing through bits of
Class D, without having to sit up and beg for a controlled airspace
transit each time, like we have to do here in the UK (and frequently
get refused). The French controllers just say "radar contact Nxxxxx"
and that's all you hear - it's an implied transit.
On the other hand the pilot never got a transit clearance so what
would happen if the tape got played back after an incident?
In 2003 I flew through one of the French nuclear power station TRAs. I
was under a radar service, with a special transponder code. They saw
exactly where I was but said nothing. They did ask me for the pilot's
name, which I thought was weird but gave it to them of course. They
never mentioned the alleged bust. I knew nothing of the alleged bust.
I knew of the TRA but only of its previous much smaller diameter.
In a piece of utterly shameful behaviour, 5 months later I got a
letter from the UK CAA on behalf of the DGAC asking who the pilot was
and the DGAC clearly wanted to prosecute. The real problem was that
the TRA did not show up in the notam data feed back then (this was
fixed soon afterwards) which was the fault of the French, but the DGAC
did not accept this was an excuse. I requested the radar tape which
showed me a few hundred metres inside the TRA circle, and it also
showed the transponder code :) :) :) proving I was under a radar
service at the time. In the end the matter was settled with a stroppy
warning letter from the CAA, which was basically irrelevant bollocks
but it served the job of closing the matter. The penalty in France is
something totally crazy like Euro 10,000 and/or aircraft confiscation.
This was a lesson. Now, when some French (or any other) controller
says "radar contact" AFTER I HAVE GIVEN HIM THE ROUTE THROUGH HIS
CLASS D I read it back with "CLEARED on route X - Y - Z Nxxxxxx" just
for their tape.
Now, IME, the French controllers speak good English (except one at La
Rochelle tower). Further south, it gets worse, and much worse.
Here in the UK, ATC phraseology is generally excellent but many many
pilots sounds like they have never used the radio.
We should stick to standard phraseology.