Originally Posted by
alanh
If ATC understands there to be an emergency, they may ask the crew to clarify but they aren't going to insist "You must say 'mayday' three times."
No. If we/I percive that there is an emergency I am not going to say..."Are you declaring an emergency?" or "Are you calling Mayday?" It is not a requirement.
Originally Posted by
alanh
Somewhat related to callsign confusion is the phonetic alphabet's D = Delta. This would obviously cause confusion at Atlanta.I believe ATC uses "Dixie".
Standard aviation phraseology... D=Delta. If something different is used in ATL then they are going against standard aviation phraseology. We deal with Delta up here and granted there aren't nearly as many DL flights we don't change the phraseology.