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Aircraft Callsigns  
User currently offlineSimtim From United States, joined Mar 2006, 46 posts, RR: 0
Posted (2 years 5 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 5895 times:

Greetings All,

The other day I was plane spotting at PHNL (Honolulu) and a China Airlines Boeing 747 came in to land. Up until this point I had thought their callsign was "China Air" or simply "China." However, I distinctly heard the pilot and controller use the callsign of "Dynasty." Therefore, when the plane became visible I was surprised to see the China Airlines livery. Can anyone else confirm this?

- Tim


Radar service terminated, squawk and maintain VFR, frequency change approved!
58 replies: All unread, showing first 25:
 
User currently offlineCorey07850 From United States, joined Feb 2004, 2296 posts, RR: 3
Reply 1, posted (2 years 5 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 5895 times:

Dynasty is their official callsign

User currently offlineSimtim From United States, joined Mar 2006, 46 posts, RR: 0
Reply 2, posted (2 years 5 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 5888 times:

Thanks Corey for your quick reply!  spin 


Radar service terminated, squawk and maintain VFR, frequency change approved!
User currently offlineJAGflyer From Canada, joined Aug 2004, 2745 posts, RR: 3
Reply 3, posted (2 years 5 months 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 5856 times:

Other airlines with different callsigns:

SA - Springbok
EI - Shamrock
CI - Dynasty


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User currently offlineDeltaGator From United States, joined Sep 2005, 6341 posts, RR: 15
Reply 4, posted (2 years 5 months 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 5851 times:

Quoting JAGflyer (Reply 3):
Other airlines with different callsigns

A few others...

Airtran is Citrus
ValuJet was Critter
Atlantic Southeast was Candler and now goes by Acey again.


"If you can't delight in the misery of others then you don't deserve to be a college football fan."
User currently offlineMir From United States, joined Jan 2004, 10354 posts, RR: 57
Reply 5, posted (2 years 5 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 5815 times:

Dynasty is the callsign of China Airlines.

Air China is the callsign of Air China, which is probably why it would be a bad idea to have China Air as a callsign.

All the callsigns you could ever want are in the 7340.1, available here: http://www.faa.gov/ATpubs/

It's a huge file, but it's got everything. There's also www.airlinecodes.co.uk, which is less complete, but still is very comprehensive.

-Mir


Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room! | Bloomberg '08!
User currently offlineZkpilot From New Zealand, joined Mar 2006, 2692 posts, RR: 4
Reply 6, posted (2 years 5 months 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 5756 times:

British Airways is Speedbird
I always thought that was pretty much the coolest callsign out there.


46 types. 21 countries for me and counting
User currently offlineTom12 From United Kingdom (Scotland), joined Dec 2005, 1078 posts, RR: 11
Reply 7, posted (2 years 5 months 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 5681 times:

Quoting Zkpilot (Reply 6):
always thought that was pretty much the coolest callsign out there.

Totally Agree

America West was Cactus

Tom


"Per noctem volamus" - Royal Air Force Bomber Squadron IX
User currently offlineSkyslave From United States, joined Oct 2005, 44 posts, RR: 0
Reply 8, posted (2 years 5 months 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 5673 times:

Pinnacle Airlines is Flagship.
Air Cargo Carriers is Night Cargo.

User currently offlineJeffry747 From United States, joined Jun 2005, 879 posts, RR: 1
Reply 9, posted (2 years 5 months 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 5649 times:
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Wasn't the callsign for Pan Am "Clipper"?


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User currently offlineDColeMAN From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2004, 274 posts, RR: 9
Reply 10, posted (2 years 5 months 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 5638 times:

Quoting Jeffry747 (Reply 9):
Wasn't the callsign for Pan Am "Clipper"?

Correct.

Dale


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User currently offlineORDSPOTTER From Poland, joined Apr 2005, 33 posts, RR: 0
Reply 11, posted (2 years 5 months 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 5582 times:

America West Airlines is "Cactus"

USA 3000 Airlines is "Getaway"


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User currently offlineNudelhirsch From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 1437 posts, RR: 18
Reply 12, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 5555 times:

AFAIK those callsigns were made to better differentiate over the radio.

Now, there is not too much overlapping, but Springbok and Shamrock can sure sound very similar on radio...

Do they serve the same airports at all? Probably LHR, maybe 1 or 2 American airports...


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User currently offlineJush From Germany, joined Apr 2005, 1439 posts, RR: 3
Reply 13, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 5549 times:

Quoting Zkpilot (Reply 6):

DBA (German British Airways) has been Speedway in comparison to speedbird.
Cool thing IMO. Anyway I don't know if they're still carrying this title cause there ain't no real German BA anymore.

Regards
jush


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User currently offlineKELPkid From United States, joined Nov 2005, 3346 posts, RR: 3
Reply 14, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 5501 times:

At least one more:

YV (Mesa Airlines) = "Air Shuttle" (one of the dumbest callsigns, IMHO)


Rulebooks and regulations are made from paper...and they do a poor job at preventing metal from contacting rock-Ernest G
User currently offlineMir From United States, joined Jan 2004, 10354 posts, RR: 57
Reply 15, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 5464 times:

Quoting Nudelhirsch (Reply 12):
Now, there is not too much overlapping, but Springbok and Shamrock can sure sound very similar on radio...

I was spotting at JFK once and thought I heard "Shamrock" coming in. It turned out to be "Air Maroc".

Shamrock 111 and Air India 111 used to arrive at the same time at JFK, sometimes one would be following the other. The flights still arrive at the same times, but they're not both numbered 111 anymore (I think Aer Lingus uses Shamrock 11C as the radio callsign).

-Mir


Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room! | Bloomberg '08!
User currently offlineIFEMaster From , joined today!, posts, RR:
Reply 16, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 5452 times:

Quoting Zkpilot (Reply 6):
British Airways is Speedbird
I always thought that was pretty much the coolest callsign out there.

Funny, I always thought it was one of the cheesiest/lamest.

I like 'Shamrock'; I get this picture in my mind of a couple of Leprechauns in pilots' uniforms.

User currently offlineDeltamike172 From United States, joined Mar 2001, 67 posts, RR: 0
Reply 17, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 5439 times:

"Clipper" shouldn't be referred to in passed tense!

Pan Am 3, that charter company that flies into Pease, NH and Gary, IN and those weird places with 727s uses that callsign. The Callsign is PAAxxxx and they are called clipper on the radio.

Something that always confuses me is when people refer to these airlines with two letter identifiers. The only identifiers I know are the 3 letter ATC callsigns. That ATpub link will have all the informtion you'd ever need. There are some cute ones out there...

Two letter airline callsigns are confusing real life callsigns such as TNxxxxx and LNxxxxx (Tango November is part 135 air taxi for hire, Lifeguard November is any aircraft that needs priorety handeling for medical reasons). If I could wish for one thing on this forum, it would be the use of real ATC callsigns instead of the 2 letter ones. UAL instead of UA, FFT instead of F9, SWA instead of WN, etc. Well, i could think of some other things one could get rid of, but the entertainment value would go WAY down!

DM

User currently offlineStarlionblue From Greenland, joined Feb 2004, 12585 posts, RR: 56
Reply 18, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 5427 times:

Quoting Deltamike172 (Reply 17):
If I could wish for one thing on this forum, it would be the use of real ATC callsigns instead of the 2 letter ones. UAL instead of UA, FFT instead of F9, SWA instead of WN, etc. Well, i could think of some other things one could get rid of, but the entertainment value would go WAY down!

Well, two letter are just as real, but are IATA, not ICAO  Wink

Quoting IFEMaster (Reply 16):
Quoting Zkpilot (Reply 6):
British Airways is Speedbird
I always thought that was pretty much the coolest callsign out there.

Funny, I always thought it was one of the cheesiest/lamest.

Love it. For the record it's inspired by the BOAC logo.


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User currently offlineShyFlyer From United States, joined Jan 2004, 3638 posts, RR: 8
Reply 19, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 5410 times:

Quoting KELPkid (Reply 14):
Air Shuttle" (one of the dumbest callsigns, IMHO)

It comes from the early days when the airline was Mesa Air Shuttle, running back and forth between FMN and ABQ.


Service before self
User currently offlineSpencer From United Kingdom (England), joined Apr 2004, 790 posts, RR: 19
Reply 20, posted (2 years 5 months 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 5361 times:

British Airways' domestic shuttle flights go under the callsign of...... Shuttle!
Spencer.


To Fly To Serve.
User currently offlineIAHFLYR From United States, joined Jun 2005, 2899 posts, RR: 15
Reply 21, posted (2 years 4 months 4 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 5275 times:
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I totally believe that BTA should be JetLincoln!


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User currently offlineZkpilot From New Zealand, joined Mar 2006, 2692 posts, RR: 4
Reply 22, posted (2 years 4 months 4 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 5260 times:

slightly off topic but I remembered this joke that used BA's callsign "speedbird"


"The German controllers at Frankfurt Airport were a short-tempered lot.

They not only expected you to know your parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (PanAm 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground and a British Airways 747 (radio call Speedbird 206) after landing.

Speedbird 206: "Good morning Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of the active."

Ground: "Guten morgan, taxi to your gate."

The British Airways 747 pulls onto the main taxiway and stops.

Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?"

Speedbird 206: "Stand by, ground, I'm looking up the gate location
now."

Ground (with typical German impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you never flown to Frankfurt before?"

Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes, in 1944. But I didn't stop."" 

[Edited 2006-04-10 15:01:33]


46 types. 21 countries for me and counting