Narrative:

After I told the pushback driver our nose number; their reply was: 'hi; XXX; towbar connected; were ready for the push.' with all our rollback events at the gate; wingtip clippings and other ground damage of our aircraft in and around the gate area; I try to be as standard and by the book as I can be with my communication with the pushback crew. The exact verbiage is pretty much spelled out in aom table 7.1. So I asked if there was anything else he wanted to tell me; like pin inserted or doors closed and such. Only then did the pushback driver; reluctantly; use the correct verbiage. He even added the word '(other carrier)' at the end. Why and how he knew that I was former (other carrier) I do not know; but I took it as a compliment to mean former (other carrier) guys are very by the book and follow the right procedure. During pushback he also told me that 'you can start 'em'.' I then inquired which engine or engines to start. Only then did he tell me to start engine two and one. He gave me a very friendly look after the wave-off.a reminder to use proper procedure and verbiage goes a long way in avoiding misunderstandings between the pushback crew and the flight deck and will therefore help avoid future possible damages to aircraft; equipment and personnel. As to calling me an '(other carrier)' in an attempt to ridicule one group over another only leads us to tribalism between groups and does absolutely nothing in keeping it a positive work environment for all of us here.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported that the pushback driver did not use standard verbiage during pushback.

Narrative: After I told the Pushback Driver our nose number; their reply was: 'Hi; XXX; towbar connected; were ready for the push.' With all our rollback events at the gate; wingtip clippings and other ground damage of our aircraft in and around the gate area; I try to be as standard and by the book as I can be with my communication with the Pushback Crew. The exact verbiage is pretty much spelled out in AOM table 7.1. So I asked if there was anything else he wanted to tell me; like pin inserted or doors closed and such. Only then did the Pushback Driver; reluctantly; use the correct verbiage. He even added the word '(other carrier)' at the end. Why and how he knew that I was former (other carrier) I do not know; but I took it as a compliment to mean former (other carrier) guys are very by the book and follow the right procedure. During pushback he also told me that 'you can start 'em'.' I then inquired which engine or engines to start. Only then did he tell me to start engine two and one. He gave me a very friendly look after the wave-off.A reminder to use proper procedure and verbiage goes a long way in avoiding misunderstandings between the Pushback Crew and the flight deck and will therefore help avoid future possible damages to aircraft; equipment and personnel. As to calling me an '(other carrier)' in an attempt to ridicule one group over another only leads us to tribalism between groups and does absolutely nothing in keeping it a positive work environment for all of us here.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.