NATO Phonetic Alphabet
The NATO phonetic alphabet - officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet - gives each letter a code word so it can be spelled clearly over a phone or radio, where B, D, P and V can easily sound alike. It was adopted in the 1950s and is used by pilots, the military, the emergency services and call centres worldwide.
This guide lists all twenty-six code words with their standard pronunciation, plus the specially pronounced numbers used in aviation. Note the official spellings 'Alfa' and 'Juliett', chosen so that speakers of every language say them correctly.
30 entries in this category
Letters A to I
9Said: AL-fah. Officially spelled "Alfa" so speakers of all languages pronounce it correctly.
"Your seat is 14A - one-four Alfa."
Said: BRAH-voh.
"Gate B9 is called Bravo Niner."
Said: CHAR-lee (or SHAR-lee).
"Booking reference C-A-T: Charlie Alfa Tango."
Said: DELL-tah.
"Delta Echo Foxtrot spells D-E-F."
Said: ECK-oh.
"The code begins with Echo."
Said: FOKS-trot.
"Foxtrot Oscar spells F-O."
Said: GOLF.
"Postcode starts Golf Lima."
Said: hoh-TELL.
"Platform H - Hotel."
Said: IN-dee-ah.
"India Delta spells ID."
Letters J to R
9Said: JEW-lee-ETT. Spelled with a double T so French speakers do not drop the final sound.
"Juliett Kilo spells J-K."
Said: KEY-loh.
"Kilo Lima Mike spells K-L-M."
Said: LEE-mah.
"Lima Oscar Victor Echo spells LOVE."
Said: MIKE.
"Mike Romeo spells MR."
Said: no-VEM-ber.
"November Oscar spells NO."
Said: OSS-cah.
"Oscar Kilo spells OK."
Said: pah-PAH.
"Papa Sierra spells PS."
Said: keh-BECK.
"Quebec Uniform spells QU."
Said: ROW-me-oh.
"Romeo Sierra Victor Papa spells RSVP."
Letters S to Z
8Said: see-AIR-rah.
"Sierra Oscar Sierra spells SOS."
Said: TANG-go.
"Tango Victor spells TV."
Said: YOU-nee-form.
"Uniform Kilo spells UK."
Said: VIK-tah.
"Victor India Papa spells VIP."
Said: WISS-key.
"Whiskey Whiskey Whiskey spells WWW."
Said: ECKS-ray.
"X-ray Lima spells XL."
Said: YANG-key.
"Yankee Echo Sierra spells YES."
Said: ZOO-loo. Zulu time is aviation shorthand for UTC.
"Departure at 1400 Zulu."
Numbers
4Said: TREE - avoids the "th" sound, which many speakers find hard over the radio.
"Flight level tree-zero-zero."
Said: FOW-er - keeps it distinct from "for".
"Runway two-fower."
Said: FIFE - avoids confusion with "fire".
"Heading one-fife-zero."
Said: NIN-er - avoids confusion with German "nein" (no).
"Squawk seven-tree-niner-one."