Originally Posted by
deeruck
They quite often don't use the airline name, for either traditional reasons (Speedbird for BA) or to avoid confusion on radio (Cactus for America West, and now US Airways). There are plenty of examples out there. Listen a little more to ATC and you'll also hear Brickyard, Shamrock and Citrus (but not the last one for much longer
).
I've also heard ATC/pilots call by the airline name and not the callsign (as it should be under FCC rules). For example, US Airways pilots often call themselves "US Airways ###" instead of "Cactus ###" I don't think either party minds as long as they can understand each other and can recognize the person/aircraft transmitting.