Angry Spirit Pilot Lashes Out At LGA ATC: “This Is Why We Have Problems”

Air traffic controllers in New York have the reputation for sometimes having a bit of an attitude with pilots, and losing their cool. So here’s an interesting interaction, where the opposite is true — the pilot loses his cool, while the air traffic controller keeps his calm. That being said, was the pilot’s frustration justified?

Mar 28, 2025 - 20:09

Angry Spirit Pilot Lashes Out At LGA ATC: “This Is Why We Have Problems”

Air traffic controllers in New York have the reputation for sometimes having a bit of an attitude with pilots, and losing their cool. So here’s an interesting interaction, where the opposite is true — the pilot loses his cool, while the air traffic controller keeps his calm. That being said, was the pilot’s frustration justified?

Spirit pilot loses cool while landing at LaGuardia

VASAviation has an excellent video with air traffic control audio and a visualization of what happened during a recent Spirit Airlines flight from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to New York LaGuardia (LGA), operated by an Airbus A320neo.

The Spirit jet had been given clearance to land on runway 31 at LaGuardia. Here’s the interaction that takes place between the air traffic controller and Spirit pilot, shortly after the plane touches down, as it’s decelerating on the runway:

Air traffic controller: “Spirit Wings 472, hold short of runway 4 at P.”
Spirit pilot: “4 at P.”
Air traffic controller: “Verify, Spirit Wings 472, verify, hold short of runway 4 at P.”
Spirit pilot: “Hold on! We’re trying to land. You’re giving me a hold short while I’m trying to land. You know why we have problems? It’s because of that.”
Air traffic controller: “Okay, sir, 472, just turn left onto R, right P, hold short of runway 4.”
Spirit pilot: “Okay, you understand that? We have all these problems. We’re trying to land the airplane, and you’re giving me hold short instructions.”
Air traffic controller: “Spirit 472, I need you off the runway. Traffic’s on a mile final. Turn left on R, right on P, hold short of runway 4.”
Other Spirit pilot: “Left on R, right on P, hold short of 4, Spirit Wings 472.”

At that point, an unnamed person on the frequency says “welcome to LaGuardia, Spirit!” The Spirit pilot responds “no, this is why we have the problems, man!” That same voice responds with “you’re the only one who has a problem.”

You can listen to the air traffic control audio and see a visualization of what happened below.

Was the Spirit pilot’s frustration warranted?

Was the Spirit pilot’s attitude completely uncalled for, or did the air traffic controller do something he shouldn’t have? The answer is probably a little bit of both.

To the Spirit pilot’s credit, he was given an instruction during what’s arguably the single most critical and hands-on phase of the flight, as the aircraft is touching down and decelerating. At that exact point, while the plane is barreling down the runway, pilots are focused on that specific task.

It’s not the time to give instructions that probably should either be given well before a plane lands, or once it has slowed down to a taxi speed. As you can see, the Spirit pilot reads back the instructions, but then the air traffic controller follows up to confirm that it was the Spirit pilot who did that, given the lack of a callsign being used.

Most people seem to think that the air traffic controller could’ve had better timing. That being said, even if the pilot’s frustration was warranted, this wasn’t the way he should’ve expressed himself. He’s more focused on arguing and proving his point, than he’s focused on following the instructions and vacating the runway, with an aircraft on short final.

Furthermore, a pilot’s first duty is safely flying the plane, so if he wasn’t happy about the instructions, or the request to confirm the flight number, he could’ve said something along the lines of “standby,” rather than all of this.

I do have to give the air traffic controller credit for not arguing with this guy, and remaining exceptionally calm. Could you imagine how this would’ve ended if the air traffic controller was that one guy who works the graveyard shift at JFK, who is looking for any excuse to fight with pilots?

Bottom line

A Spirit Airlines plane landing at LaGuardia was given taxi instructions while touching down, which rubbed the captain the wrong way. He expressed his displeasure with the air traffic controller, accusing that interaction of being the reason that our air traffic control system has problems.

I think his frustration wasn’t totally unwarranted in terms of the timing of the instructions being less than ideal. However, it still seems like there’s a better way to communicate that, and I’m not sure this accomplished much, in the end.

What do you make of this interaction?