The latest copy of the French radiotelephony manual I have still says
2.4. Usage de la langue française
La langue française est, sauf cas particulier (entraînement par exemple) utilisée entre pilote
français et contrôleur français.
The latest SERA implementation document from March of this year is less specific (see page 133) https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/sera_complet_version19032022.pdf
It has never been obligatory for French pilots to speak French with ATC, just an accepted practice. Many French ATOs now insist on English-only for their traning flights.
Couple of articles on my site about this :
https://lingaero.com/flying-in-france-fr-only-and-issues-surrounding-the-use-of-french-for-radio-communications/
https://lingaero.com/radio-utilisation-de-langlais-et-du-francais/
It’s all pretty random in my experience. I generally try to use French, when VFR anyway. At Cannes they nearly always reply in English anyway, so I’ve given up trying. But the other day I requested takeoff clearance in French then had a total mental block for the readback and did it in English. The controller came straight back in English starting with “I’m sorry”. This was F reg flying with a French instructor.
My French PPL gives me level 6 in French, since I did the checkride in French, but level 4 in English, since that’s based on my FAA license. I thought that was pretty amusing but thanks to Bordeaux Jim I have now passed the test for level 6 and sent it off. My anglophone friends are greatly relieved, they found it tedious having to use short words and simple sentences when speaking to me.
A good few years ago I was flying out of Cannes (on a temporary license that existed back then). I was trying to learn French ATC and speaking French, but every single other pilot on freq, all French, were speaking English “for practice”.
This has been often claimed, all over the place, to be a “law”, including that this “law” has recently been removed.
However, I am now told it is/was worded: “Le français est en principe utilisé entre pilote français et contrôleur français, sauf pour des besoins d’entrainement”
Does anyone have a reference?
There have been notorious cases like this.
From eAIP ENR section
Important note 1 : In France, it is possible to use the French language in radiotelephony on all aerodromes, including airports with more than 50 000 international IFR movements per year.
AFAICT there is nothing about where it has to be used. But I suspect this to ne included in the various approach charts.
In the situation given in your link and as Toussus le Noble charts say it is necessary to use French for all movements in the absence of ATS there is no reason why the ATS giving departure or arrival clearances during time to speak English at all as they are expecting everyone contacting that ATS position to be speaking French.
This wasn’t AD related; it was claimed to be a law in France, for “French pilots” (definition?).
I have never heard of it being a law. Even before JAA or EASA.
The wording in the eAIP is that it is possible not that it is mandatory.
We had this exact discussion previously. Threads merged.
However I think there was something like this in the past. See here. The guy referenced would definitely know but never came back with a reference.
The other scenario posted here is really ATC enforcing mandatory-FR at an airport which is thus marked in the AIP or Notam, and that requirement is clear, notwithstanding the gratuitously aggressive ATC behaviour there.
Arrêté du 11 décembre 2014 relatif à la mise en œuvre du règlement d’exécution (UE) n° 923/2012, as it is valid today (and since 4 March 2022), Annex I
FRA.14015 a)
Mise en œuvre
La langue habituellement utilisée par la station au sol est le français.
Meaning that the French “application” of SERA.14015.(a) is this. For reference, SERA.14015.(a) is:
SERA.14015 Language to be used in air-ground communication
(a) The air-ground radiotelephony communications shall be conducted in the English language or
in the language normally used by the station on the ground.
FRA.14015.a) was actually the same since 2 October 2017.
This establishes that French ground stations “normally use” French. However, SERA.14015 continues:
(b) The English language shall be available, on request of any aircraft, at all stations on the ground serving designated aerodromes and routes used by international air services. Unless otherwise prescribed by the competent authority for specific cases, the English language shall be used for communications between the ATS unit and aircraft, at aerodromes with more than 50 000 international IFR movements per year. Member States, where at the date of entry into force of this Regulation, the English language is not the only language used for communications between the ATS unit and aircraft at such aerodromes, may decide not to apply the requirement to use the English language and inform the Commission accordingly. In that case, those Member States shall, by 31 December 2017 at the latest, conduct a study on the possibility to require the use of the English language for communications between the ATS unit and aircraft at those aerodromes for reasons of safety, so as to avoid incursions of aircraft on an occupied runway or other safety risks, while taking into account the applicable provisions of Union and national law on the use of languages. They shall make that study public and communicate its conclusions to the Agency and the Commission.
(c) The languages available at a given station on the ground shall form part of the Aeronautical Information Publications and other published aeronautical information concerning such facilities
I don’t see that France makes formal continued use of the possibility not to require the use of English (that is, allow it but not require it and also allow French) at aerodromes with more than 50 000 international IFR movements per year, but I might have missed it.
Worth posting this here too, I think…
Well posted skydriller I always find Jim’s videos both educational and interesting.
