Originally Posted by
a_fman
I've noticed this now on a few different flights I've taken recently, namely DFW-MEX and DFW-SEA where the outbound flight number is identical to the return flight number, has anyone else noticed this and what's the reasoning behind this? Seems like a very strange practice and ripe for a good deal of confusion.
There are only so many flight numbers to go around. If you assign outbound and inbound to the same number (DFW-MEX and MEX-DFW, for instance), you are assured that both flights can't be in the air at the same time, so it reduces potential confusion.