Using the chart
Say one code word per letter, and read numbers digit by digit: a seat number such as Q7 is “Quebec Seven”. The official spellings Alfa and Juliett are deliberate — ICAO explains that “ph” might not be read as “f” by speakers of some languages, and that French speakers might drop a single final “t”. For digits, Annex 10 gives pronunciations designed for radio, most noticeably TREE (3), FIFE (5) and NIN-er (9).
The alphabet was finalised by ICAO and took effect on 1 March 1956, the same date NATO made it effective for its forces; it is used by aviation, shipping, the military and emergency services worldwide. Spell any text automatically with the NATO phonetic alphabet converter.