We had a question this week from Jacek in Poland about how to pronounce airline flights numbers.This flight number is the number that each plane trip is given ,and is usually two,three,or four digits is the United States.For example ,if i fly from Los Angeles to Minneaplis, i might take Northwest flight 304."304" is the number of the flight; "Northwest" is the name of the airline.
While in many cases your could pronounce this number "three hundred and four", that is not how you would pronounce it in the context of a flight number. In the other words, if you are at the airport and listening for an announcement for your flight number, you will not hear them say "three hundred and four". Here are the rules for pronouncing numbers at the airport:
If it is a two digit flight number , we pronounce it as a "regular"number. So flight 34 would be pronounced "thirty-four".It is also possible to use the individual numbers- "three four"
For three digit flight numbers, we pronounce the individual numbers only. So flight 304 would be pronounced "three zero four". Your would not say "three hundred and four".
Four four digit flight numbers,threre are tow possibilities. Let's take the example of flight 2567. This can be pronounced "twenty-five sixty-seven",grouping the numbers two by two ,or it can be pronounced using the individual numbers "two five six seven". Again ,we would not say "two thousand five hundred and sixty-seven".
So listen carefully when you're at the airport . We don't want your to miss your flight.
~Jeff
