How to Talk to ATC

Talking to air traffic control is a skill with a small vocabulary and a fixed order. Once the order is automatic, most of the stress goes away: you always know what comes next. This guide covers the parts every call shares. Each phase of flight has its own calls, with the exact words, in ATC radio calls, phase by phase.

Before you key the mic

The AIM boils good radio technique down to a few habits (AIM 4-2-2):

1. Listen first. Give the frequency a few seconds. If the controller has just asked another pilot something, the answer is coming, so do not fill the gap.
2. Know what you will say. Plan the whole call before you press the button. Write long ones down, such as a flight plan or a position report.
3. Talk normally, close to the mic. A conversational voice with the microphone near your lips is clearer than a loud one.
4. Release, then wait. After you let go of the button, give the controller a few seconds before you call again.
5. Notice silence. A long quiet spell on a busy frequency can mean your mic is stuck in transmit or you are out of range.

At an airport with ATIS, listen to it before you call Ground or Tower, so you can tell them you have it.

The four parts of every call

Part	Example	What to know
Who you are calling	Springfield Tower	The facility and its type: Ground, Tower, Approach, Center, or Radio for Flight Service. At a field without a tower you talk to “Springfield traffic”.
Who you are	November One Two Three Alpha Zulu	Your full callsign. With the type or maker in front, the “November” is dropped: “Cessna One Two Three Alpha Zulu”.
Where you are	ten miles south at two thousand five hundred	In the air, your position and altitude. On the ground, where you are on the field: “at the west ramp”.
What you want	with information Bravo, inbound for landing	Your request, if it is short. If it is long, say what kind it is, such as “VFR request”, and let the controller ask for the rest.

That is the list the AIM gives for a first contact (AIM 4-2-3). It also mentions “over” if required; in everyday US radio it is left out.

After the first exchange, replies get shorter: what you are acknowledging, then your callsign.

Student pilot? Say so

On your first call to each facility, add “student pilot” after your callsign:

Springfield Ground, November One Two Three Alpha Zulu, student pilot, at the west ramp with information Bravo, ready to taxi, VFR to Riverside.

The AIM recommends it on initial contact with Clearance Delivery, Ground, Tower, Approach, Departure and Flight Service (AIM 4-2-4). It alerts controllers so they can give you extra assistance and consideration.

Your callsign: in full first, short only after ATC

• First contact: always the full callsign. The AIM says a callsign should never be abbreviated on an initial contact (AIM 4-2-4).
• Shorten it only after the controller does. Once communication is established, ATC may use the prefix and the last three characters, such as “Cessna Three Alpha Zulu”. From then on you can use the same short form. Not before.
• Put it in every readback and acknowledgment, at the start or the end (AIM 4-2-3, 4-4-7). It is how the controller knows the right airplane got the message.
• Not sure a call was for you? With similar callsigns on frequency, ask: “Verify clearance for November One Two Three Alpha Zulu.”

How to say numbers

Round hundreds and thousands are said as words. Every other number is said digit by digit, and nine is “niner” (AIM 4-2-7, 4-2-8).

You see	You say
Altitude 2,500	two thousand five hundred
Altitude 13,500	one three thousand five hundred
Heading 090	heading zero niner zero
Runway 27	runway two seven
Frequency 121.7	one two one point seven
Altimeter 30.02	altimeter three zero zero two
Squawk code 4351	squawk four three five one
Time 0920 UTC	zero niner two zero Zulu

Headings, courses and wind directions always take three digits and are magnetic unless “true” is said (AIM 4-2-10). Letters, like taxiways and the ATIS code, use the phonetic alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie.

What to read back

A readback repeats the parts of an instruction that would hurt if you got them wrong. The AIM asks you to read back altitude assignments, vectors and runway assignments, in the same order the controller gave them, and to include the runway in your first readback of a taxi, takeoff or landing clearance (AIM 4-4-7).

Approach: November One Two Three Alpha Zulu, turn left heading two seven zero, descend and maintain two thousand five hundred.

You: Left heading two seven zero, descend and maintain two thousand five hundred, November One Two Three Alpha Zulu.

Hold short instructions always get read back, with the runway number: controllers are required to get that readback from you (AIM 4-3-18).

Not everything is read back. A traffic advisory gets “traffic in sight” or “negative contact, looking”. A frequency change gets the frequency and your callsign. For a full readback on the ground, see How to Call Ground for Taxi.

The words that do the work

Word	What it means	When to use it
Roger	I have received your last transmission	Acknowledging information. Never as the answer to a yes-or-no question
Wilco	I have received your message, understand it, and will comply	An instruction you will carry out, when nothing in it needs a readback
Affirmative / Negative	Yes / No	Answering a question
Unable	I cannot comply	An instruction or clearance you cannot accept. Accepting or refusing a clearance is your call (AIM 4-4-7)
Say again	Repeat your last transmission	You missed all or part of it: “say again the altimeter”
Stand by	Wait a moment	You need a few seconds. It is not an approval or a denial
Verify	Please confirm	Checking something you are not sure of: “verify assigned altitude”

The meanings come from the FAA’s Pilot/Controller Glossary. When no standard phrase fits, use plain English: the AIM says to use whatever words get your message across (AIM 4-2-1).

When you miss something

• Ask. “Say again” costs a few seconds. Guessing at a clearance can cost far more.
• Too fast? Say “say again, slower”. Controllers would rather repeat an instruction than have you guess at it.
• No answer to your call? Check the frequency and the volume, then call once more and keep it short (AIM 4-2-3).

How to get comfortable on the radio

• Listen to real traffic. A live ATC feed of your home airport lets you hear the calls before you make them. Try to say the pilot’s reply before they do.
• Chair-fly out loud. Before the flight, say every call you expect, in order, as if the mic were in your hand.
• Write them down. Put the calls you expect on your kneeboard: the facility, your callsign, where you will be, what you want.
• Practice speaking, not just reading. Knowing the words and saying them under pressure are different skills. All 44 calls, phase by phase shows what each one sounds like.

Common mistakes

• Pressing the button before you know the words. Every “uh” is airtime someone else needed.
• No position. The controller has to ask where you are before helping you.
• Shortening your callsign first. Wait for the controller to do it.
• “Roger” instead of a readback. Roger only means you heard. It does not repeat the runway, altitude or hold short.
• A readback in a different order. Read it back the way it was given.
• One long call on a busy frequency. Say what kind of request you have and let the controller come back to you.

FAQ

What do I say the first time I talk to ATC?

The facility, your full callsign, where you are and what you want. On the ground that sounds like “Springfield Ground, November One Two Three Alpha Zulu, at the west ramp with information Bravo, ready to taxi, VFR to Riverside.” How to Call Ground for Taxi walks through that call.

Do I need to say “over”?

No. The AIM lists it only “if required”, and in the US you will almost never hear it.

Should I tell ATC I am a student pilot?

Yes, on your first call to each facility. The AIM recommends it, so controllers can give you extra help.

Is it OK to use plain English?

Yes, when the standard phrases do not cover what you need to say. Clear plain words beat a phrase you are not sure of.

How do I stop freezing on the radio?

Plan the call, write it down and say it out loud before the flight. The words become automatic only by saying them, which is why practicing out loud works better than reading.