Radio communication is a vital tool in an airport operation. Since letters can often be misinterpreted during radio communications, the phonetic alphabet is used. For example, suppose you needed to transmit a baggage tag number – UZL5948365.01; the correct radio communication would be "UNIFORM-ZULU-LIMA-FIVE-NINER-FOUR-EIGHT-THREE-SIX-FIVE-DECIMAL-ZERO-ONE". This helps to avoid any misinterpretation of letters and numbers.
| Letter | Phonetics | Pronunciation (ICAO & Nato) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Alfa | AL fah |
| B | Bravo | BRAH voh |
| C | Charlie | CHAR lee |
| D | Delta | DELL tah |
| E | Echo | ECK oh |
| F | Foxtrot | FOKS trot |
| G | Golf | golf |
| H | Hotel | ho TELL |
| I | India | IN dee ah |
| J | Juliet | JEW lee ETT |
| K | Kilo | KEY loh |
| L | Lima | LEE mah |
| M | Mike | mike |
| N | November | no VEM ber |
| O | Oscar | OSS cah |
| P | Papa | pah PAH |
| Q | Quebec | keh BECK |
| R | Romeo | ROW me oh |
| S | Sierra | see AIR rah |
| T | Tango | TANG go |
| U | Uniorm | YOU nee form |
| V | Victor | VIK tah |
| W | Whiskey | WISS key |
| X | Xray | ECKS ray |
| Y | Yankee | YANG key |
| Z | Zulu | ZOO loo |
| Number | Phonetics | Pronunciation (NATO) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One | WUN |
| 2 | Two | TOO |
| 3 | Three | TREE |
| 4 | Four | FOW-er |
| 5 | Five | FIFE |
| 6 | Six | SIX |
| 7 | Seven | SEV-en |
| 8 | Eight | AIT |
| 9 | Nine | NIN-er |
| 0 | Zero | ZE-RO |
| 00 | Hundred | HUN-dred |
| 000 | Thousand | TOU-SAND |
| . | Decimal | DAY-SEE-MAL (ICAO) POINT (FAA) |
| 39291.50Z | TREE NIN-ER TOO NIN-ER WUN DECIMAL FIFE ZE-RO ZULU |