Originally Posted by Modern 49er
I understand the "heavy" designation...was just wondering about where 8146 came from.
When a flight (usually international) uses the same flight number but continues onward using a different aircraft, as is the case for UA936 (ORDIAD is a B777; whereas IADZRH is a B763), UA has a practice of using the nose number for the call sign on the domestic segment. This way, in case of a delay, they can dispatch the second segment without causing confusion to air traffic control. I guess they learn from experience.