Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 33
Other / Unknown; Communication Breakdown; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Airport; Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors
Ground Controller sounded very busy and very agitated. Directed us to hold on our gate referencing inbound taxiing aircraft. First Officer (FO) called to ask the location of that aircraft and was literally yelled at. We pushed and received taxi instructions the (FO) wrote down [our instructions to] hold short of D7. There is a lot of ground traffic associated with construction in that area and some signage was not visible where we expected it to be. The taxi instructions we read back didn't make sense looking at the 10-9 page so we stopped at the top of the alley before entering any taxiways. The Ground Controller began yelling and berating us and gave us different taxi instructions than what we had read back. He was so unprofessional I asked him for his operating initials which he declined to provide and I said 'Okay; I show XA:58 on the time what do you have?' He replied 'I don't even know what that means.' We taxied and departed. Upon arrival; I contacted one of our ATC Specialists who contacted the Tower Supervisor who promised to listen to the tape and get back with him.Being cautious while taxiing isn't normally cause for an ATC Ground Controller to become abusive. I would do things the same way under the same circumstances. Abrasive and aggressive grounds crew created confusion in taxi instructions compounded by construction.
During a very busy Ground Ops time; I called for pushback. The Controller said to stand by. After a few minutes passed; I again called for push. We were told to give way to inbound Company then push. We couldn't see (boxed in) so I queried the Ground Controller about the Company traffic. He snipped at me saying 'our Ground Guys could see him'. It was becoming apparent that the Controller was stressed; but I didn't try to cause an issue. After pushback; I called for taxi but his instructions were confusing to me. I was only receiving partial instructions due to my headset volume. I read back the instructions incorrectly and he reissued them. We taxied forward; but due to construction; lighting issues and the recent incident; we stopped to verify our position. What we were told and what we were seeing simply did not make sense. The Controller then became frustrated; reissued the taxi instructions and made a comment about 'making it as simple as possible' for us. Not only was I confused about the instructions and reticent to taxi out into an area with construction; I was also taken back by his sarcastic tone. We weren't trying to confuse the issue. It was dark; lots of construction and we did NOT understand what he wanted us to to do. The Captain grabbed the MIC and asked for his operating initials and the Controller refused. Instead he reissued taxi instructions and we departed without further confusion.I understand the operating tempo can be stressful on both sides of ATC experience. However; I feel we did the right thing by not allowing the pressure to force us into action when we weren't clear on the taxi route. It wasn't my intent to initially readback the instructions incorrectly. I always write them down and verify on my iPad with the 10-9 chart. However; there was no need to compromise professionalism and talk down to a crew either.
B737-700 flight crew reported encountering an over stressed Ground Controller during an attempted push back during a very busy time of the night. The flight crew had to ask for clarification on the taxi instructions which seemed to infuriate the Controller.