"Refusing to Handle You"

We're back to Monty Python.

No, you're just being Jose.

And you're just being Steven.

How do you know he doesn't want to divert and wait out the weather?

It's not the weather that prompted the exchange, it was Potomac's
refusal to accept the flight. Had it been the weather, the pilot would
likely have requested the diversion first. Granted, maybe the weather
contributes to Potomac's INABILITY to handle the flight, but REFUSAL
does not imply INABILITY (though it does imply inconvenience).

unless things are so balled up...
Now you're catchin' on!

"State intentions": "what are you going to do?" (controller has
hands-off stance)

"State request": "how can I help you?" (controller is offering
coordination assistance - which is the controller's reason for being)

No, it takes me into Potomac approach. I'm no longer a thruflight

Got it. I'd have to know (or suspect) that the reason they are
=refusing= to accept me is that they (as a matter of policy) don't take
thruflights, and not that they are balled up by the weather, or don't
like the position of my wings, or just don't feel like doing whatever it
takes to squeeze me through.

I would never (prior to this exchange) suspected that "they just don't
do thruflights" or "today they aren't doing thruflights".

Ok, in the future I'll try gaming the system. Everyone does that, and
soon Potomac will refuse to accept incoming. Chicago will follow suit.

That is what's happening. The pilots of all those air carrier jets
streaming through the airspace you want to use are getting what they want.
Traffic flows are dictated by air carrier needs because they're the biggest
users.

Some time back, in a different thread (about angelflight) you stated
that angelflight did not get any priority, and continued to say that
aircraft are handled on a first-come first-served basis. Your statement
above seems to contradict that (otherwise I could just be scooted in
front of the next jet that's not there yet).

"Refusing" to accept you is different from "IS UNABLE" to accept you.
Not in this case.

Yes in this case, if they are "unable" to handle me because of all the
jets that haven't gotten there yet. They are unable to handle me =and=
give the jets priority. If what you say is operative, they are
=unwilling= to not give the jets priority in order to let me through.

ARTCC boundaries sometimes change, but they're on the charts.

Maybe that's it, but as I recall it also had to do with altitudes, which
to my knowledge are not charted in that detail.

Then you haven't flown enough.

Right. I could fly twice as much and it wouldn't be enough.

Jose
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