Narrative:

Crew directed to contract 'clearance delivery' for push after briefing for a departure on runway 15L. Clearance advises expect runway 9 for takeoff. Captain questions as to why as traffic appears light. Told runway 9 needed for direction of flight. (Even though traffic is observed departing runway 15L making turns to the north) clearance now directed to contract ramp for taxi. Ramp now rapidly reads complex taxi instructions concerning taxiways that all have double phonetic identifiers. Captain and first officer now both heads down examining 3 different charts in order to attempt taxi. Captain calls for progressive as this is first time at iah in approximately 12 months and has never used the new runway. Instructions are now given to join taxiways that are not marked on the asphalt. Ramp is apologetic and acknowledges that markings 'could use some paint!' aircraft arrives at the hold short after once again talking to clearance delivery (doing ground control duties) and is told to contact tower. On contact with tower; captain asks for a phone number for tower in order to discuss taxi instruction concerns at a later time. The tower then explains for a least 30 seconds how things are done in iah and that I will have to pull out of line in order to get a phone number! This airport appears non-standard both in airport marking; operating procedures and attitude. This combination will result in a ground incursion in the near future. This taxi evolution are completely unnecessary. Traffic was extremely light for major airport operations. The taxiways double as ramp real estate on this side of the airport and are very poorly marked. Compounding safety is a visual perception of nose to nose traffic crossing taxi bridges to the east while turning into the ramp area; not to mention pilot distraction caused by heads down 3 chart navigation and rapidly read instructions. Adding insult to injury is being lectured for at least 30 seconds on a tower frequency as to how it's done in houston. In the interest of safety; the tower should have provided a phone number in order to be advised of safety issues and allowed a critical frequency to remain open. This airport needs paint; a mature attitude that acknowledges not all crews operate through it everyday; and openness to acknowledge safety concerns.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier Captain described a complex taxi instruction routing at IAH and new taxiways with poor markings. The IAH Tower Controller did not want to discuss the reporter's concern and the sources of his confusion.

Narrative: Crew directed to contract 'Clearance Delivery' for push after briefing for a departure on Runway 15L. Clearance advises expect Runway 9 for takeoff. Captain questions as to why as traffic appears light. Told Runway 9 needed for direction of flight. (Even though traffic is observed departing Runway 15L making turns to the north) clearance now directed to contract ramp for taxi. Ramp now rapidly reads complex taxi instructions concerning taxiways that all have double phonetic identifiers. Captain and First Officer now both heads down examining 3 different charts in order to attempt taxi. Captain calls for progressive as this is first time at IAH in approximately 12 months and has never used the new runway. Instructions are now given to join taxiways that are not marked on the asphalt. Ramp is apologetic and acknowledges that markings 'could use some paint!' Aircraft arrives at the hold short after once again talking to clearance delivery (doing ground control duties) and is told to contact Tower. On contact with Tower; Captain asks for a phone number for Tower in order to discuss taxi instruction concerns at a later time. The Tower then explains for a least 30 seconds how things are done in IAH and that I will have to pull out of line in order to get a phone number! This airport appears non-standard both in airport marking; operating procedures and attitude. This combination will result in a ground incursion in the near future. This taxi evolution are completely unnecessary. Traffic was extremely light for major airport operations. The taxiways double as ramp real estate on this side of the airport and are very poorly marked. Compounding safety is a visual perception of nose to nose traffic crossing taxi bridges to the East while turning into the ramp area; not to mention pilot distraction caused by heads down 3 chart navigation and rapidly read instructions. Adding insult to injury is being lectured for at least 30 seconds on a Tower frequency as to how it's done in Houston. In the interest of safety; the Tower should have provided a phone number in order to be advised of safety issues and allowed a critical frequency to remain open. This airport needs paint; a mature attitude that acknowledges not all crews operate through it everyday; and openness to acknowledge safety concerns.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.