Narrative:

We had a flow time assigned and pushed from the gate about 9 minutes prior. While tight we were in good shape to make our flow time as taxi to runway 19L was fairly short. Then the ramp tower informed us a runway change was in progress and to contact ground control. Ground gave us instructions to taxi to runway 1R. We complied with taxi instructions and waited for a new clearance per their instructions.we were #1 for departure and still awaiting the new clearance when I told the controller we would need a minute once we received the new clearance to set up. At least one other aircraft on the frequency did the same thing. I anticipated our new clearance would be the cowboy RNAV departure so we set it up in the FMC and had performance data loaded. Just as that was completed we were issued the new clearance which was exactly what was anticipated and we were released to contact tower.we switched to tower and we were told 'advise when ready'. After a brief delay he came back again and asked if we were ready. I replied '30 seconds' he then told us to 'line up and wait'. I did not respond. He came back again and said 'line up and wait'. At this time I came back and said 'we were interrupted 3 times and would have to start our checklist over.' no response from tower. As we were just about finished with the taxi checklist we were instructed to hold short 1R and advise ready.within a few seconds I told him we were ready. He then told us to cross 1R and hold short 1L and that ATC would have to work on a new flow time; which ended up being over 15 minutes later. While I can't say for certain what the controllers reasons were; I felt we were being punished for not allowing ourselves to be rushed into an unsafe situation.many controllers do not understand what needs to take place on the part of pilots after a runway change is issued. New routing needs to be verified; takeoff performance must be rechecked and often changed; a new engine failure procedure must be reviewed and all this must take place after safely establishing the aircraft on the new taxi route or after reaching the new runway for departure. In this case ATC did not issue a new departure for several minutes after the runway change occurred but once they did it seemed this controller felt we should be ready immediately and he did not understand the interruptions were an impediment.ATC must be aware of the what changes and verifications are required on the part of pilots and that repeated distractions can lead to unnecessary navigation errors or worse.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain described a failure on the part of the ATCT Controllers to recognize the time and effort necessary to re-prepare appropriate avionics and performance data for departure following a change or runway. The reporter felt his failure to complete the necessary modifications consistent with ATC's expectations resulted in a retaliatory delay.

Narrative: We had a flow time assigned and pushed from the gate about 9 minutes prior. While tight we were in good shape to make our flow time as taxi to Runway 19L was fairly short. Then the Ramp Tower informed us a runway change was in progress and to contact Ground Control. Ground gave us instructions to taxi to Runway 1R. We complied with taxi instructions and waited for a new clearance per their instructions.We were #1 for departure and still awaiting the new clearance when I told the Controller we would need a minute once we received the new clearance to set up. At least one other aircraft on the frequency did the same thing. I anticipated our new clearance would be the Cowboy RNAV departure so we set it up in the FMC and had performance data loaded. Just as that was completed we were issued the new clearance which was exactly what was anticipated and we were released to contact Tower.We switched to Tower and we were told 'advise when ready'. After a brief delay he came back again and asked if we were ready. I replied '30 seconds' he then told us to 'line up and wait'. I did not respond. He came back again and said 'line up and wait'. At this time I came back and said 'we were interrupted 3 times and would have to start our checklist over.' No response from Tower. As we were just about finished with the taxi checklist we were instructed to hold short 1R and advise ready.Within a few seconds I told him we were ready. He then told us to cross 1R and hold short 1L and that ATC would have to work on a new flow time; which ended up being over 15 minutes later. While I can't say for certain what the Controllers reasons were; I felt we were being punished for not allowing ourselves to be rushed into an unsafe situation.Many Controllers do not understand what needs to take place on the part of pilots after a runway change is issued. New routing needs to be verified; takeoff performance must be rechecked and often changed; a new engine failure procedure must be reviewed and all this must take place after safely establishing the aircraft on the new taxi route or after reaching the new runway for departure. In this case ATC did not issue a new departure for several minutes after the runway change occurred but once they did it seemed this Controller felt we should be ready immediately and he did not understand the interruptions were an impediment.ATC must be aware of the what changes and verifications are required on the part of pilots and that repeated distractions can lead to unnecessary NAV errors or worse.

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.