New Call Sign

[exB717Flyer]

The unexpected part was ATC having more trouble with the change than any pilots. Of course, it's becuse of the AWE to USA change in our flightstrips. OTOH, not one mistake from the Mexican controllers on my PVR turn.

I'm not worried about the few Easties who deliberately mispronounce cactus. They'll get it out of their system in a few days and that'll be that. I went through the same phase when I had to change from TWA to American. It's harder to mispronounce "american" but man I tried!

 

[wopr21]

Yeah..a lil prick never hurt anyone. On the other hand...

Thats right

Try this experiment... take 2 or 3 hours in a day and say 'cactus " in front of every sentence.

Feels pretty prickly to me


wopr21

 

[autofixer]

Thats right

Try this experiment... take 2 or 3 hours in a day and say 'cactus " in front of every sentence.

Feels pretty prickly to me


wopr21


Naaw...it becomes subliminal after a while. Many of us went from Piedmont to USAir and it became a non-issue in a matter of minutes; the callsign, I mean.

 

[Dorf]

The unexpected part was ATC having more trouble with the change than any pilots.

Listened in on PHL ATC and didn't hear but a few "pilot errors", but PHL controllers were sure having a hard time. I think they have a hard enough time on a good day without reading US and having to say something else. One controller even said "aw hell, USair's Cactus turn left heading two seven zero"...that got a few chuckles. I didn't hear one pilot say any other pronounciation than Cactus for the entire hour I listened....there were a few "US... er I mean Cactus" though.

Dorf

 

[N965VJ]

There should be a $2 fee for using the wrong call sign.

Payroll deductable, of course.

 

[Poug Darker]

Just flew a 3 day - controllers having a hard time because their data block still says "USA", and for 20+ years that has meant "USAir". 90% of all the communications were bungled one way or another. Got a few comments like "who's idea was this?!". Told them to file a safety report. Thank God it was a 'no weather' day in the northeast - if there had been TS/holding/etc. it coulda been a real mess.

 

[Elevation]

Just flew a 3 day - controllers having a hard time because their data block still says "USA", and for 20+ years that has meant "USAir". 90% of all the communications were bungled one way or another. Got a few comments like "who's idea was this?!". Told them to file a safety report. Thank God it was a 'no weather' day in the northeast - if there had been TS/holding/etc. it coulda been a real mess.

 

[GuntherA320]

I had a similar experience going to LA from CLT on monday. Atlanta, Memphis, Kansas City, Fort Worth, ABQ, and LA Center all goofed it. Not just once, but multiple times. I'll state that I don't mind the call sign change at all. However it was a mistake to change all the strips to USA instead of AWE if you are going to change the call sign to Cactus. ATC called us US Air at least 25 times on the way across and at least that many times on the way back. Coming out of LA the female controller said, "who's idea was this?" It made for a lot of corrected or repeat transmissions. It wasn't just our flight. It was every US Airways flight all the way across the country. There were missed calls on both East and West flights. East flights because we are not used to hearing Cactus and West flight when they called them US Air. If it wasn't serious, it would have been comical. I'm sure this will die down over time, however it could have gotten ugly if it had been a bad weather day.

 

[Atlantic]

I gave up in Europe this morning. Most controllers used US Air, and I came back the same. One German controller used the C word, and I returned it. A couple of UK controllers used it as well. On the way over, a French controller asked me to spell it for her!

 

[etops1]

it's a joke. it should have never been changed . don't fix what ain't broken .

 

[PropPiedmont]

it's a joke. it should have never been changed . don't fix what ain't broken .

You're right. US Air is far from broken.

 

[USFlyer]

I've been listening on liveatc.net and it clearly is a mess, for both East and West flights. I was listening to airports across the country, from PHL to SEA, and some in Europe (e.g., AMS), and almost every controller said the wrong thing. They should have stuck with "US Air" or changed the designator from "USA" to something else, like CAC.

West crews also sounded annoyed when called "US Air", but all responded with "Cactus" as appropriate.

 

[PHL Approach]

When it was first said that Cactus would likely be the remaining callsign years ago I had figured they would have created a new ICAO - LCC would be fitting. Some controllers I know would like to see a new ICAO or AWE restored. I'm not in favor of using an ICAO of AWE for a Company called US Airways so I still stick with the ICAO of LCC.

Nevermind, the Lancair Aircraft Company has that ICAO. I thought I looked it up a few months ago and it was still open.

 

[USFlyer]

The other thing I noticed listening to ATC was the "Cactus" and "Citrus" (for Airtran) can sometimes sound familiar if the controller talks too fast.

 

[Wannabe Airways]

Kudos to the guys who say CACT-U-S. You will never hear this express guy ever call a "cactus" in sight or follow a cactus. Its USAIRS forever with this poster.

ps- I dont like change.