The Phonetic Alphabet - Old & New


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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