Yes

I don't think you technically need to be proficient in English at all to fly, you can pootle around in your Cessna with no bother (well...).

But if you're flying internationally, eg a commercial pilot, ICAO mandate a minimum of Level 4 (as a point of reference, I think a Level 6 is 'proficient')

TBH it's all somewhat moot - I'd be a Lvl 6 but when I did my flight training in South Africa, if a certain Afrikaaner came into the Tower then it was Endex as far as I was concerned as I had a hell of a job understanding him even though we were both fluent in English. Have also heard some clips of Yank ATC (eg at JFK) which is just unintelligible to my ear, and I sort of know what they are all saying.

Posted By: CWC, Oct 21, 23:22:21