Airline codes?
Jun 7, 2001 | 12:13 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 7,700
Airline codes?
Several months ago there was a thread on airport codes. I think it started out something like "why is O'Hare's code ORD?" Then someone explained that it was once called ORcharD Field, etc. I looked for the thread but couldn't find it. I mourn the loss of the "search all fora" function.
This is a similar question: where did the airline codes come from? Some, like United Airlines, make sense, but others like HP (America West) and WN (Southwest) don't. Are there explanations rooted in history or otherwise? Or are these just arbitrary combinations?
Mike
This is a similar question: where did the airline codes come from? Some, like United Airlines, make sense, but others like HP (America West) and WN (Southwest) don't. Are there explanations rooted in history or otherwise? Or are these just arbitrary combinations?
Mike
Jun 7, 2001 | 12:25 pm
#2
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Chattanooga, TN, USA**US Airways Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,338
Some of them do have historical roots. For example, Canadian was CP because one of the components in the merger that created it was Canadian Pacific.
Others have less obvious explanations. For example, AirTran is FL because their hub used to be in Florida. Comair's OH, well, even if it's technically in Kentucky... And Varig's RG comes out of the middle of the name, while a first-and-lass pattern gives you BD for British Midland.
Most of the others, though, do seem to be without pattern. Just that all the good ones were taken. (I think they may all be taken now--new ones usually include a number, and there is a move afoot to three-character codes.)
Others have less obvious explanations. For example, AirTran is FL because their hub used to be in Florida. Comair's OH, well, even if it's technically in Kentucky... And Varig's RG comes out of the middle of the name, while a first-and-lass pattern gives you BD for British Midland.
Most of the others, though, do seem to be without pattern. Just that all the good ones were taken. (I think they may all be taken now--new ones usually include a number, and there is a move afoot to three-character codes.)
