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.

Listen to the early phonetic alphabet in action in Essendon Tower in an excerpt from an interview of Air Traffic Controller Jack McCubbin by Norman Banks of radio station 3AW c.1950 (555 KB MP3 file).


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


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