Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 8.0
Distraction; Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Other / Unknown
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Company Policy; Human Factors
I was working the final for SNA and it was very busy. Aircraft are stepping and blocking on each other and it's making the frequency unmanageable. The problem is the SNA coordination line. This line goes directly into the Controller's ear and steps over the frequency. SNA Tower called while stepping on aircraft's check ins or read backs. This creates an unsafe situation because of the possibility to miss a read back or have to say again when the frequency is congested already.The original intent of the line was to be used for safety purposes only. Meaning they need approach to slow an aircraft to prevent a loss of separation. There's really no need for Tower to ever have to call the final so critically that it needs to distract the Controller from everything else. Please return this line to a shout line; so we can hear it on speaker and NOT block the pilots. Tower uses this line for unnecessary coordination and nothing related to a safety alert.
SCT TRACON Controller reported a Tower called them repeatedly on a direct line instead of a line through the loudspeaker while it was busy causing them to miss aircraft transmissions.