Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 117
Situational Awareness; Distraction; Confusion; Communication Breakdown; Workload
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Ground Conflict; Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown; No Specific Anomaly Occurred Unwanted Situation
Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Company Policy; Procedure; Human Factors; Environment - Non Weather Related
Aircraft X was leaving late. Four Company aircraft were leaving DTW around the same time with very similar call signs. To be exact; Company; Aircraft Y; Aircraft Z; and Aircraft A were also leaving. Meanwhile; the controller working Tower was also working Ground frequency. More than once; aircraft were taking frequency changes for other aircraft. While no serious deviations occurred; my First Officer remarked that both the high workload of the controller and the similarity of call signs could be a number of threats that on a worse day could lead to a serious safety concern. I do agree with him. I think Company has been aware of the issue of similar call signs leaving and arriving at hubs at the same time for a while; but it would require too much work to actually re-work the system to better avoid this issue. I fear that we will have to wait for some serious incidents to have the impetus to actually change this feature of our dispatching. Flight Planning presumably has a reason for making the flight numbers a particular way.
An Air Carrier pilot reported their company had four flights with similar sounding call signs departing within a ten minute time period.  The reporter states this problem occurs at all their hubs.