The phonetic alphabet is one of the first things in aviation that a pilot or air traffic controller learns because it forms the foundation of all spoken air/ground communication.

Up until 1 March 1956 civil aviation in Australia used the British phonetic alphabet which had been extensively used during the war years. However, from 1 March 1956 a more 'international' version of the phonetic alphabet, supposedly easier for people of non-English speaking background to pronounce, was adopted. This new phonetic alphabet is used unchanged throughout the aviation world today.

The table below gives both phonetic alphabets:

Letter	till 1 March 1956	post 1 March 1956
A	Able	Alpha
B	Baker	Bravo
C	Charlie	Charlie
D	Dog	Delta
E	Easy	Echo
F	Fox	Foxtrot
G	George	Golf
H	How	Hotel
I	Item	India
J	Jig	Juliett
K	King	Kilo ('keelo')
L	Love	Lima ('leema')
M	Mike	Mike
N	Nan	November
O	Oboe	Oscar
P	Peter	Papa
Q	Queen	Quebec ('kweebeck')
R	Roger	Romeo
S	Sugar	Sierra
T	Tare	Tango
U	Uncle	Uniform
V	Victor	Victor
W	William	Whiskey
X	X-ray	X-ray
Y	Yoke	Yankee
Z	Zebra	Zulu

This information was sourced from the DCA's Flight Radio Operator's Manual, Fourth Edition, September 1955 and amendments.

Download a Movie Clip: A Position Report, 1950s-style using the old phonetic alphabet.

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