Originally Posted by mot29
I think that odd/even designates e/w or n/s bound.
I know that over the years that I flew (and NW flew) into ONT the MSP-ONT flights were always in the 1027/28/29/30/31/32 range no matter where they flew beyond MSP.
tom
NW seems to use low numbers for long haul international routes. NW 2 is HKG-NRT-LAX, NW 51 is FRA-DTW. Domestics seem to be 3 digits, and 4 almost always is a RJ ride.
The bigger the flight number, the smaller the plane. I figure 1 digit = 747, 2 digit = A330, 3 digit = DC9, 4 digit = sardine class.
I have seen a few that violate this old rule, but: Airlines adopted the numbering convention originated by railroad timetables back in the day. Eazy to remember for this forums members.
Just remember "Northwest is ODD".(not a political comment about NW management
) Flights that go north and/or west are odd numbers, flights that go south and/or east are even numbered. Short hop RJ flights are more likely to not follow the rule, but main line flights seem to.
For fun go to nwa flight tracking and punch in a city pair each way. For today, DTW-MCO nonstop flights are 432, 420, 418, 426, 422, 416, 428. MCO-DTW is 433, 427, 423, 425, 429, 953, 419. DTW-NRT is 11, 25. NRT-DTW is 12, 26. Follows the odd-even rule.