Air traffic communication is structured and a very limited subset of English. It makes more sense if you remember that that first call in the video isn't coming

Air traffic communication is structured and a very limited subset of English. It makes more sense if you remember that that first call in the video isn't coming out of the blue - the pilot of Delta 29 Heavy would have already been in contact to start taxiing etc and is expecting a pending authorization call, knows the format it will take ('call sign - command - modifiers/watch-for'), and then it's all read-back anyway to make sure there's no misunderstanding. The communication gets much clearer and less staccato when something is going on that's not regular - my favourite example is an incident at JFK where a taxiway was unexpectedly blocked and you can watch the Russian pilots struggle a bit to explain[1], presumably because 'cones' isn't in the normal ATC glossary[2] [1] https://youtu.be/YmywjMQDbos?feature=shared&t=77 https://youtu.be/YmywjMQDbos?feature=shared&t=77 [2] https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/media/pcg_4-03-14.pdf https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/media/pcg_4-03-...