Originally Posted by
daron4000
I more regularly fly with United but am flying with American from SXM-DCA on the 1st and was wondering about AA's flight numbers. On a specific route, the numbers seem so random and unorganized whereas on United, they are usually in order of departure time. Also, all 9xx go to Europe or the Caribbean usually, 8xx to Asia/South America/Australia, 6xx ORD-East Coast primarily...
Thanks for the help!
The only reliable guide is 1-2999 for mainline, 3000-5999 for Eagle, and 6000-9999 for codeshares.
The 1-digit numbers are rooted in AA's history. AA1 & AA2 are JFK-LAX and LAX-JFK.
The 2-digit numbers are used on Europe (eg ORD-LHR) and the flagship transcons (eg LAX-JFK). Not all such flights have 2-digit numbers however.
The 3-digit numbers just have vague tendencies-- lots of 9xx to S America, 6xx to the Caribbean, 1xx JFK to Heathrow or JFK-transcon again.
I never tried to spot any patterns in the 4-digit numbers. The high ones 2xxx were TW-operated before the certificates merged.