INTRODUCTION: Studies in Pragmatics analyze language usage considering linguistic choices and strategies made by the participants who, according to Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1967,1975), follow a previous mutual knowledge of norms called “maxims” (quantity, quality, manner, and relevance), with which the participants may express their intentions in an effective and cooperative manner in any immediate interactive community. OBJECTIVES: Therefore, based on theories in Pragmatics, the purpose of the current research is to proceed the previous Programa Institucional de Bolsas em Iniciação Científica (PIBIC) edition – which investigated the dialogue from the Avianca Flight 057[1] –, considering possible linguistic and extralinguistic aspects that could affect international airline communication, based on the perspective and experience of pilots and air traffic controllers with different abilities in the English language. MATERIALS AND METHOD: In order to do so, a qualitative and exploratory research was developed along with a questionnaire, as the data collecting instrument applied specifically to airline controllers, of whom the results were analyzed using Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1967,1975), Brown and Levinson’s Face and Politeness Theory (1987), as well as Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance Theory (1987). RESULTS: The results given by the airline controllers, along with the Flight 057 incident dialogue observations, made it possible to analyze that there is cooperative communication in international aviation through relevance when using: the English language, as expected by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); and the colloquial language (in English or in another language), when these aviation professionals need to better express themselves in cases of difficulty using the expected phraseologies, due to insufficient proficiency or psychological reasons, such as forgetfulness or stress. However, it was also noted that there are communication issues when using colloquialism and/or another language, since they make room for a diversity of accents, expressions, and cultures. This type of knowledge is not very common among most airline controllers and pilots, which can cause ambiguity, lack of clarity, and little relevance about what is communicated. Another communication issue, in terms of politeness, is when instead of also considering the participant’s public image (“face”), the speaker’s greatest concern is only towards their own self-image that, in the case of international airline communication, can lead to hierarchical conflict between the captain and the co-pilot, since answers in the questionnaire point out that these positions are very close. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: According to the obtained results, it was possible to conclude that there is a need to expand previous common knowledge among the participants regarding hierarchy, mutual face concern, as well as language proficiency in its many contexts and cultures (such as English), in order to provide cooperative communication in the airline context and in any given interaction in society.
