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Air carrier pilot expressed concern regarding companies' practice of using similar flight numbers especially during bank operations.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 727758 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200702 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : stl.airport |
| State Reference | MO |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : captain |
| Qualification | pilot : atp |
| ASRS Report | 727758 |
| Events | |
| Independent Detector | other flight crewa |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : anomaly accepted |
| Supplementary | |
| Problem Areas | Company |
| Primary Problem | Company |
Narrative:
This report was prompted by hearing 2 pairs of call signs in and out of stl. This report is being used as a safety advisory. Similar sounding call signs has been brought up with company management countless times and each time we are told that there's nothing we can do proactively about it and that they can only change the call signs after it's been brought to their attention. ATC complains to us about it over the air and pilots complain about it too. With runway incursions being the focal point of the FAA safety initiatives over the past years I think this should be low hanging fruit. Everybody agrees that our call signs are problematic yet nothing has been done to solve the problem proactively.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: ACR PLT EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING COMPANIES' PRACTICE OF USING SIMILAR FLIGHT NUMBERS ESPECIALLY DURING BANK OPS.
Narrative: THIS RPT WAS PROMPTED BY HEARING 2 PAIRS OF CALL SIGNS IN AND OUT OF STL. THIS RPT IS BEING USED AS A SAFETY ADVISORY. SIMILAR SOUNDING CALL SIGNS HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP WITH COMPANY MGMNT COUNTLESS TIMES AND EACH TIME WE ARE TOLD THAT THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO PROACTIVELY ABOUT IT AND THAT THEY CAN ONLY CHANGE THE CALL SIGNS AFTER IT'S BEEN BROUGHT TO THEIR ATTN. ATC COMPLAINS TO US ABOUT IT OVER THE AIR AND PLTS COMPLAIN ABOUT IT TOO. WITH RWY INCURSIONS BEING THE FOCAL POINT OF THE FAA SAFETY INITIATIVES OVER THE PAST YEARS I THINK THIS SHOULD BE LOW HANGING FRUIT. EVERYBODY AGREES THAT OUR CALL SIGNS ARE PROBLEMATIC YET NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO SOLVE THE PROB PROACTIVELY.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.