Phx air carrier arrival described call sign confusion event; claiming company chosen similar call si...

Narrative:

We were flight # to phx and right behind us either due to us being late; they being early; or on time; was flight # (similar callsign) to phx. Several clearances for us were taken by the other callsign and ATC had to repeat them; plus ATC gave wrong clearances during a time of high stress due to a last minute runway change and thunderstorms. Headings and holding instructions were mixed. I have addressed this issue with the company first 3 years ago; and got no response. This was a potential safety issue because the company chose to send two similar callsigns to the same airport during the same time period. There is no need for this. In a normal weather situation and low traffic volume; there would be no problems. Why do we need to put a potential 'human factors' problem into a high volume environment like today? Safety concern assigning too similar call signs.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PHX air carrier arrival described call sign confusion event; claiming company chosen similar call signs create a potential human factors safety problem.

Narrative: We were Flight # to PHX and right behind us either due to us being late; they being early; or on time; was Flight # (similar callsign) to PHX. Several clearances for us were taken by the other callsign and ATC had to repeat them; plus ATC gave wrong clearances during a time of high stress due to a last minute runway change and thunderstorms. Headings and holding instructions were mixed. I have addressed this issue with the Company first 3 years ago; and got no response. This was a potential safety issue because the Company chose to send two similar callsigns to the same airport during the same time period. There is no need for this. In a normal weather situation and low traffic volume; there would be no problems. Why do we need to put a potential 'human factors' problem into a high volume environment like today? Safety concern assigning too similar call signs.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	844405
Time
Date	200907
Place
Locale Reference	PHX.Airport
State Reference	AZ
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 193 Flight Crew Type 13500
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Phx air carrier arrival described call sign confusion event; claiming company chosen similar call signs create a potential human factors safety problem.