Why is AirTran's nickname "FL"?
Sep 3, 2010, 12:57 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: MKE
Posts: 63
Why is AirTran's nickname "FL"?
Why is AirTran referred to as "FL" on this forum?
Curious minds....
Curious minds....
Sep 3, 2010, 1:17 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: DCA
Programs: CO PL, DL PM
Posts: 57
"FL" stands for "Florida."
AirTran is the successor airline to ValuJet, the 1990s discount carrier whose poor safety record finally became national news after its Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades due to an avoidable cargo fire.
ValuJet bought AirTran Airways in 1997 and assumed the AirTran name.
AirTran is the successor airline to ValuJet, the 1990s discount carrier whose poor safety record finally became national news after its Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades due to an avoidable cargo fire.
ValuJet bought AirTran Airways in 1997 and assumed the AirTran name.
Sep 3, 2010, 1:37 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: MKE
Posts: 63
"FL" stands for "Florida."
AirTran is the successor airline to ValuJet, the 1990s discount carrier whose poor safety record finally became national news after its Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades due to an avoidable cargo fire.
ValuJet bought AirTran Airways in 1997 and assumed the AirTran name.
AirTran is the successor airline to ValuJet, the 1990s discount carrier whose poor safety record finally became national news after its Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades due to an avoidable cargo fire.
ValuJet bought AirTran Airways in 1997 and assumed the AirTran name.
Sep 3, 2010, 6:01 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,412
AirTran's FL moniker was not named in response to a Florida plane crash.
It is because the airline is headquartered in Florida. Specifically, Orlando.
It is because the airline is headquartered in Florida. Specifically, Orlando.
Sep 3, 2010, 6:03 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: MKE
Posts: 63
Off-topic here, but when AirTran tried to buy Midwest, everybody here .....ed and moaned but I would of rather have AirTran buy Midwest than Frontier. Oh well.
Sep 3, 2010, 7:40 am
#6
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: MKE
Posts: 2,161
Hoss, doesn't IATA or some government agency assign those codes? How did your favorite airline ever end up with YX? The list is endless, America West was HP.
Knope might be able to shed some light on this mystery.
Knope might be able to shed some light on this mystery.
Sep 3, 2010, 8:01 am
#7
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ATL
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Delta Kryptonium Medallion, National Executive
Posts: 1,889
Indeed, RSVP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_codes-All
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_codes-All
Sep 3, 2010, 8:25 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: MKE
Posts: 2,161
Indeed, RSVP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_codes-All
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_codes-All
Sep 3, 2010, 8:29 am
#9
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Sep 3, 2010, 2:44 pm
#10
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,653
Basically, you can choose from what's available when you apply for a IATA code.
Most startup and regional airlines found that the "good" codes were usually taken. WN isn't exactly tied into Southwest as far as I know. YX for Midwest doesn't mean anything either. Occasionally they would find something with an indirect tie-in, like Vanguard Airlines was formed by several former People Express guys from the Newark area, and they were able to get code NJ. The original AirTran getting FL was a stroke of good luck.
At one point the code list was expanded to include codes which start with a number, like 3A or 9N. But those were primarily used by commuters and third-level operations, and so startup airlines avoided those like the plague because “real” airlines had letter codes. That’s why so many airlines which started in the 70’s and 80’s had letter codes which had nothing to do with their name. They took what they could get.
Eventually they started allowing mixed codes with the letter first, and those were (for some reason) much less taboo, and airlines used them. That’s why a later generation of startups often got letter-number codes, like B6 for JetBlue and F9 for Frontier, which at least had a meaningful letter. ValuJet was J7. When ValuJet acquired AirTran and took their name, they also assumed their two-letter code of FL.
For what it’s worth, the FL code was for decades the moniker for…Frontier.
Sep 4, 2010, 3:49 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2001
Programs: Alaska Tanzanite 100K
Posts: 3,858
Actually the code was picked because it was similar to "FL"orida, as the original Air Tran (part one) was partly owned by Mesaba Holdings when it was trying to diversify its holdings. The formed a certificate in Orlando, Florida and flew 2nd,3rd,4th,and 5th hand Boeing 737-200s out of MCO to second and third tier markets like Bloomington, IL, Toldedo OH, Knoxville TN and focused on the "Mouse". Air Tran also had a codeshare with Delta at the time, providing feed to the Comair flights in and out of Orlando at the time.
(colors look awefully familiar, don't they?)
And regarding the codes, its a bit difficult to pick your own, the coding staff in Montreal handle other departments, and they don't provide you a list of current codes.. you have to "guess" if one is open, and they'll only respond so many times before giving you a horrible code like XX or 8K etc...
(colors look awefully familiar, don't they?)
And regarding the codes, its a bit difficult to pick your own, the coding staff in Montreal handle other departments, and they don't provide you a list of current codes.. you have to "guess" if one is open, and they'll only respond so many times before giving you a horrible code like XX or 8K etc...
Sep 5, 2010, 9:55 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
But they could've kept the critter callsign...