At NWA, we are encouraged to say something like, "Thank you for flying Northwest, now part of Delta," but when you ride on Pinnacle they say, "Thank you for flying Delta." Go figure.
That's because Delta want's everyone to know that they eat other airlines for lunch!
if you leave off the second word you get a call-sign for another company...
Kitty Hawk Aircargo's official callsign was "Air Kitty Hawk", but in normal usage was always "Kitty Hawk" on freq, and from ATC, at least in the US ...
"Kitty Hawk" was actually already taken, it is the callsign of any aircraft that is carrying the Queen of England.
Until Compass says "Compass Rose", Horizon says "Horizon Air", Frontier says "Frontier Flight", and Spirit says "Spirit Wings", and Caribbean says "Caribbean Airlines"....."Eagle Flight" will be "Eagle". Because those are the official ARTCC callsigns for those airlines and they dont say them verbatim.
We get in trouble for not saying Eagle Flight. Garbage...!
I was in NYC doing the flyby for the US Open Tennis tourney last month. Needless to say, we don't fly in that airspace very often. Well, we launched out of EWR to hold east of LGA until it was time to make the run. Our callsign was Eagle 11. It took me a few minutes to realize that we were not the only guys flying in the area with the Eagle callsign! Full callsigns were important that day (at least for me).
Oh, and when we flew into EWR the Friday before the finals, the weather was horrible (rain, low cloud, significant wind and shear), and I had to fly a STAR which included some high altitude holding and (for us) VERY slow flying (<200 kts) as we got within about 20 miles of the field. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the challenges of airline flying in major metro areas. I won't even get into trying to taxi to the FBO!
Oh, and when we flew into EWR the Friday before the finals, the weather was horrible (rain, low cloud, significant wind and shear), and I had to fly a STAR which included some high altitude holding and (for us) VERY slow flying (<200 kts) as we got within about 20 miles of the field. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the challenges of airline flying in major metro areas. I won't even get into trying to taxi to the FBO!
Welcome to Newark! At least they had a reason for doing it that day. It really sucks when it's 10 and clear and you're holding on the SHAFF.
Papa northbound, hold short of 29. Cross Runway 29, turn left on Zulu hold short of 22R. Cross Runway 22R, taxi to Signature....all while every transmission is stepped on by Continental at Romeo Golf.
I used to be a controller in the military. When I hear flight after a call sign, I expect to hear the rest of the flight checkin as well. It means there is more than one aircraft. So if the FAA/FCC allowed flight as part of a commercial call sign that would be confusing.
Going back to look for a reference, found in KHA GOM Chap 11, page 2:
International Call Signs
All flights operating outside the United States shall use the call sign "AIR KITTY HAWK" in accordance with an agreement with ICAO, .............."Kitty Hawk" is the call sign for aircraft utilized by England's Royal Family.
Last edited by 727gm : 10-15-2009 at 10:00 AM.
Reason: clarif.
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