Narrative:

Air carrier recently expanded service to dca. Flight abdd operates bdl-dca at the same time abcd operates bos-dca. Abdd was 20 mi ahead of abcd the entire trip and every single ATC controller felt compelled to warn the other flight of each flight's presence due to the near identical call signs. Operating in the northeast corridor with near identical call signs is just crazy and asking for an incident, yet neither marketing nor the air traffic area will address this problem. It appears more important to them to use similar flight #south, such as 18XX or 7XX to identify markets. Commencing 4/15/91, of the 104 daily operations into and out of dca by the air carrier 56 will use the abxx call sign.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR PIC COMPLAINS OF HIS ACR'S POLICY OF TOO MANY FLTS WITH SIMILAR SOUNDING A/N OPERATING IN THE BOS-DCA SHUTTLE OPERATION.

Narrative: ACR RECENTLY EXPANDED SVC TO DCA. FLT ABDD OPERATES BDL-DCA AT THE SAME TIME ABCD OPERATES BOS-DCA. ABDD WAS 20 MI AHEAD OF ABCD THE ENTIRE TRIP AND EVERY SINGLE ATC CTLR FELT COMPELLED TO WARN THE OTHER FLT OF EACH FLT'S PRESENCE DUE TO THE NEAR IDENTICAL CALL SIGNS. OPERATING IN THE NE CORRIDOR WITH NEAR IDENTICAL CALL SIGNS IS JUST CRAZY AND ASKING FOR AN INCIDENT, YET NEITHER MARKETING NOR THE ATA WILL ADDRESS THIS PROB. IT APPEARS MORE IMPORTANT TO THEM TO USE SIMILAR FLT #S, SUCH AS 18XX OR 7XX TO IDENT MARKETS. COMMENCING 4/15/91, OF THE 104 DAILY OPS INTO AND OUT OF DCA BY THE ACR 56 WILL USE THE ABXX CALL SIGN.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.