Nonstandard ATC phraseology on ATIS.

Attributes
ACN	305168
Time
Date	199505
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : dny
State Reference	NY
Altitude	msl bound lower : 9000 msl bound upper : 9000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Route In Use	enroute airway : swf
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 400 flight time total : 6000 flight time type : 1500
ASRS Report	305168
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Supplementary
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Swf tower ATIS identify was called 'xa' instead of 'xb.' previous identify was also 'xa' instead of 'xb.' the deviation from the standard phonetic alphabet caused no in-flight difficulties (although it was distracting), but when I queried swf tower the controller indicated the deviation was commonplace. My question is: what other deviations from accepted/mandated procedures are condoned here? Possibly something that could result in an accident? Swf controllers should use standard terminology at all times to reduce confusion during critical phases of flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NONSTANDARD ATC PHRASEOLOGY ON ATIS.

Narrative: SWF TWR ATIS IDENT WAS CALLED 'XA' INSTEAD OF 'XB.' PREVIOUS IDENT WAS ALSO 'XA' INSTEAD OF 'XB.' THE DEV FROM THE STANDARD PHONETIC ALPHABET CAUSED NO INFLT DIFFICULTIES (ALTHOUGH IT WAS DISTRACTING), BUT WHEN I QUERIED SWF TWR THE CTLR INDICATED THE DEV WAS COMMONPLACE. MY QUESTION IS: WHAT OTHER DEVS FROM ACCEPTED/MANDATED PROCS ARE CONDONED HERE? POSSIBLY SOMETHING THAT COULD RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT? SWF CTLRS SHOULD USE STANDARD TERMINOLOGY AT ALL TIMES TO REDUCE CONFUSION DURING CRITICAL PHASES OF FLT.

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.