Flight crew of a widebody transport complains about company similar sounding aircraft call signs.

Attributes
ACN	328055
Time
Date	199602
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : jfk
State Reference	NY
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zdv
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Widebody, Low Wing, 3 Turbojet Eng
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : commercial pilot : instrument pilot : private pilot : flight engineer
Experience	flight time total : 5000
ASRS Report	328055
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Similar sounding call signs. Air carrier xa jfk-lax. Air carrier xb jfk- dca. Air carrier X continually schedules similar sounding call signs in hub cities. When assigning flight numbers, no consideration is given to the safety hazards of similar sounding call signs. Similar sounding call signs make it too easy to mistakenly accept another flight's clearance. This is a safety hazard that can easily be avoided if air carrier X will consider the problems when picking flight numbers.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF A WDB COMPLAINS ABOUT COMPANY SIMILAR SOUNDING ACFT CALL SIGNS.

Narrative: SIMILAR SOUNDING CALL SIGNS. ACR XA JFK-LAX. ACR XB JFK- DCA. ACR X CONTINUALLY SCHEDULES SIMILAR SOUNDING CALL SIGNS IN HUB CITIES. WHEN ASSIGNING FLT NUMBERS, NO CONSIDERATION IS GIVEN TO THE SAFETY HAZARDS OF SIMILAR SOUNDING CALL SIGNS. SIMILAR SOUNDING CALL SIGNS MAKE IT TOO EASY TO MISTAKENLY ACCEPT ANOTHER FLT'S CLRNC. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD THAT CAN EASILY BE AVOIDED IF ACR X WILL CONSIDER THE PROBS WHEN PICKING FLT NUMBERS.

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.