Narrative:

This report is being generated due to the extreme congestion on ground control frequency at mdw during peak hours of operation. I believe that there is a serious risk to safety. Flight crews and ground control are continually stepping on each other. Ground control at mdw typically takes the handoff from tower after aircraft clear the active runway. The critical aspect of taxiing at mdw is the multiple runways that need to be crossed to get to the terminal. I personally feel that it is just a matter of time before a clearance is misunderstood; or not heard; that could lead to bigger problems. I further feel that if ground had to make a split second radio call; it might not ever make it to the intended receiver. I suggest that mdw adopt a comm plan similar to bos where air crew contacts clearance delivery when ready to push with gate number. Clearance delivery advises air crew to 'monitor ground freq.' clearance delivery advises ground controller (through their channels) and thus reduces the comm jamming problem. I realize this is just a problem at certain times of the day; but it's been going on long enough; it needs to be addressed

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier pilot reports Ground control frequency congestion at certain times of the day at MDW and suggests a BOS style program to contact Clearance Delivery when ready to push and then monitor Ground for taxi instructions.

Narrative: This report is being generated due to the extreme congestion on Ground Control frequency at MDW during peak hours of operation. I believe that there is a serious risk to safety. Flight Crews and Ground Control are continually stepping on each other. Ground Control at MDW typically takes the handoff from Tower after aircraft clear the active runway. The critical aspect of taxiing at MDW is the multiple runways that need to be crossed to get to the terminal. I personally feel that it is just a matter of time before a clearance is misunderstood; or not heard; that could lead to bigger problems. I further feel that if Ground had to make a split second radio call; it might not ever make it to the intended receiver. I suggest that MDW adopt a comm plan similar to BOS where Air Crew contacts CD when ready to push with gate number. CD advises Air Crew to 'monitor ground freq.' CD advises Ground Controller (through their channels) and thus reduces the comm jamming problem. I realize this is just a problem at certain times of the day; but it's been going on long enough; it needs to be addressed

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.