Widebody Transport
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Confusion; Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Procedure; Human Factors
Previously; ANC has typically given us direct-to clearances after takeoff. Lately; they have given us more clearances to intercept an airway; which is difficult to program into the box because of the departure:The ANC8 has a discontinuity; and then vectors before the first airway. A direct-to clearance would be much easier to understand and program and follow than these intercept an airway clearances.We were vectored westbound; away from our route; for traffic; by our initial ANC departure controller. Then he told us to fly heading 270 degrees to intercept J133; and change to a different ANC frequency. When I tried to input this into the RTE page it didn't work. I called the new controller and asked him for a direct-to clearance to JOH. The ANC controller said we had the wrong frequency and gave us another frequency change.I asked the first observer pilot for the magnetic course from TED to JOH and tried to use LEGS page to get a good intercept to join the J133. It didn't work because we were not on an intercept heading. Then I called the new ANC frequency. There was no answer.We went back to the original ANC frequency/controller and told him that we could not contact anyone on the new frequencies. We asked him for a direct-to clearance to JOH. He gave us a heading of 090 degrees and changed us to a new ANC frequency. When we contacted the new ANC controller; she gave us direct-to clearance to LAIRE; which was on the J133.During all of this the three of us were discussing that we didn't understand what our ANC controller wanted us to do. We were flying away from our route; and the heading he gave us didn't make sense. We couldn't ask him what he meant as he immediately changed our frequency after the clearance.We wondered if he confused our flight with a [different] flight that had rejected on takeoff just before our departure; due to lack of thrust in an engine: We wondered if that flight was going [elsewhere]; and our controller thought we were also departing westbound...
Captain of a Widebody Transport reported having issues with ANC ATC in both communications and clearances.