Flight number shortage or shenanigans?
Sep 1, 2012, 2:54 pm
#31
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,854
simple issue that can be easily handled at airport check-in or on the phone.
Sep 1, 2012, 3:03 pm
#33
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Scotland
Programs: not a lot
Posts: 1,774
Sep 1, 2012, 3:03 pm
#34
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,693
When your flight number changes, does your eTicket reciept available online change to match the new flight number?
I've heard SHARES requires the reservation and ticket to be in sync, but I'm seeing different flight numbers on the reservation online and the eTicket reciept online following flight number rearrangement.
I've heard SHARES requires the reservation and ticket to be in sync, but I'm seeing different flight numbers on the reservation online and the eTicket reciept online following flight number rearrangement.
Sep 1, 2012, 3:17 pm
#35
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Scotland
Programs: not a lot
Posts: 1,774
When your flight number changes, does your eTicket reciept available online change to match the new flight number?
I've heard SHARES requires the reservation and ticket to be in sync, but I'm seeing different flight numbers on the reservation online and the eTicket reciept online following flight number rearrangement.
I've heard SHARES requires the reservation and ticket to be in sync, but I'm seeing different flight numbers on the reservation online and the eTicket reciept online following flight number rearrangement.
On checkmytrip it shows 'unable, does not operate' for the original number and 'confirmed, timechange' for the new flight number.
on the airline website I booked through it says my booking has changed and to get in touch.
I'm going to leave this one a few days to see if it gets re-ticketed without my prompting to see what happens I think.
Sep 1, 2012, 6:51 pm
#37
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,854
Sep 1, 2012, 7:45 pm
#38
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: The World.
Programs: UA MP/UC - "RIP Tulip Plat"
Posts: 1,225
May 12, 2013, 1:24 pm
#39
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: between SFO & SJC
Programs: UA 1MM (and no longer flying much)
Posts: 777
Identical flight # for EWR-DEN & DEN-EWR, etc
Pre-3/3, I never recall UA having the same flight # go back and forth between a city pair. Recently, I've seen it happen, e.g., #1643 EWR-DEN-EWR (nice flight to be in F, however 
). And #5553 SFO-SAN-SFO. I assume lots of other flights do that nowadays.
Is the reason that post-merger UA now has a shortage of flight #'s? Or maybe it's easier to keep track of crews & aircraft this way? (hard to imagine the latter, but their computers are so lousy at everything other than selling TODs that I don't think it's out of the question).
I actually find this sort of numbering mildly irritating.
-It goes against the old rule of thumb that generally odd=eastbound, even=westbound, and adjacent #s generally went back & forth between a city pair.
-When I check flight information (on a monitor, online, etc) it's a bit easier to get mixed up. It's only caused me to do a brief double-take, rather than any serious mistake. But I can imagine that it could be a source of confusion, especially for someone who was in a rush.
On the upside, is it possible to upgrade both segments with a single instrument as long as they both leave on the same day? That could make for a nice MR for those who are into that sort of thing.
Fwiw, if this gets moved to the "stupidest, most insignificant thing you can complain about" thread I won't be offended. But I can't recall any other thread on this topic.
). And #5553 SFO-SAN-SFO. I assume lots of other flights do that nowadays.Is the reason that post-merger UA now has a shortage of flight #'s? Or maybe it's easier to keep track of crews & aircraft this way? (hard to imagine the latter, but their computers are so lousy at everything other than selling TODs that I don't think it's out of the question).
I actually find this sort of numbering mildly irritating.
-It goes against the old rule of thumb that generally odd=eastbound, even=westbound, and adjacent #s generally went back & forth between a city pair.
-When I check flight information (on a monitor, online, etc) it's a bit easier to get mixed up. It's only caused me to do a brief double-take, rather than any serious mistake. But I can imagine that it could be a source of confusion, especially for someone who was in a rush.
On the upside, is it possible to upgrade both segments with a single instrument as long as they both leave on the same day? That could make for a nice MR for those who are into that sort of thing.
Fwiw, if this gets moved to the "stupidest, most insignificant thing you can complain about" thread I won't be offended. But I can't recall any other thread on this topic.
May 12, 2013, 1:57 pm
#40
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,854
In a given day UA has significant more flights than flights numbers. Direct flights are one outcome and re-used flight numbers as you noticed is another.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-shortage.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...enanigans.html
and others
May 13, 2013, 8:44 am
#42
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: DFW
Programs: UA peon (+decades 1K), AA Exec Plt
Posts: 1,117
Pre-3/3, I never recall UA having the same flight # go back and forth between a city pair. Recently, I've seen it happen, e.g., #1643 EWR-DEN-EWR (nice flight to be in F, however ). And #5553 SFO-SAN-SFO. I assume lots of other flights do that nowadays.
Is the reason that post-merger UA now has a shortage of flight #'s? Or maybe it's easier to keep track of crews & aircraft this way? (hard to imagine the latter, but their computers are so lousy at everything other than selling TODs that I don't think it's out of the question).
I actually find this sort of numbering mildly irritating.
-It goes against the old rule of thumb that generally odd=eastbound, even=westbound, and adjacent #s generally went back & forth between a city pair.
-When I check flight information (on a monitor, online, etc) it's a bit easier to get mixed up. It's only caused me to do a brief double-take, rather than any serious mistake. But I can imagine that it could be a source of confusion, especially for someone who was in a rush.
On the upside, is it possible to upgrade both segments with a single instrument as long as they both leave on the same day? That could make for a nice MR for those who are into that sort of thing.
Fwiw, if this gets moved to the "stupidest, most insignificant thing you can complain about" thread I won't be offended. But I can't recall any other thread on this topic.
). And #5553 SFO-SAN-SFO. I assume lots of other flights do that nowadays.Is the reason that post-merger UA now has a shortage of flight #'s? Or maybe it's easier to keep track of crews & aircraft this way? (hard to imagine the latter, but their computers are so lousy at everything other than selling TODs that I don't think it's out of the question).
I actually find this sort of numbering mildly irritating.
-It goes against the old rule of thumb that generally odd=eastbound, even=westbound, and adjacent #s generally went back & forth between a city pair.
-When I check flight information (on a monitor, online, etc) it's a bit easier to get mixed up. It's only caused me to do a brief double-take, rather than any serious mistake. But I can imagine that it could be a source of confusion, especially for someone who was in a rush.
On the upside, is it possible to upgrade both segments with a single instrument as long as they both leave on the same day? That could make for a nice MR for those who are into that sort of thing.
Fwiw, if this gets moved to the "stupidest, most insignificant thing you can complain about" thread I won't be offended. But I can't recall any other thread on this topic.
Code:
Flight Number Ranges 1 - 1299 United Airlines 1340 - 1344 ExpressJet-Extra Section 1368 - 1369 Colgan Air - Extra Section 1400 - 1744 United Airlines 1745 - 1764 Extra Sections 1900 - 2299 US Airways Express Codeshare 2300 - 3249 US Airways Codeshare 3250 - 3254 Commutair Extra Section 3255 - 3274 UAX - ExpressJet - CO Contract 3275 - 3294 Skywest Extra Sections 3325 - 3329 Trans States Extra Sections 3330 - 3434 UAX-Trans States 3435 - 3439 Shuttle America Extra Sections 3440 - 3584 UAX-Shuttle America 3585 - 3590 UAX-CommutAir DH3 - CO Contract 3591 - 3604 UAX-CommutAir DH2 - CO Contract 3605 - 3714 UAX-Go Jet 3715 - 3717 Go Jet Extra Sections 3720 - 3724 Mesa Extra Sections 3725 - 3804 UAX-Mesa 3805 - 3854 UAX-Expressjet 3855 - 3904 UAX-Republic - CO Contract 3970 - 3973 Silver Airways - Extra Sections 3975 - 4045 UAX- Silver Airways 4046 - 4059 UAX- Silver Airways - IAD 4060 - 4072 UAX - Silver Airways - CLE 4073 - 4074 UAX - Silver Airways - IAD 4075 - 4084 UAX - Silver Airways - CLE 4085 - 4714 UAX - ExpressJet - CO Contract 4715 - 4769 UAX-Chautauqua - CO Contract 4770 - 4834 UAX-CommutAir DH2 - CO Contract 4835 - 4859 UAX-CommutAir DH3 - CO Contract 4860 - 4868 UAX-ExpressJet - CO Contract 4869 - 4937 UAX-Republic - CO Contract 4938 - 4940 UAX-Republic - Extra Sections 4965 - 4974 UAX- Skywest Airlines 4975 - 4999 UAX-Chautauqua - CO Contract 5000 - 5021 UAX-CommutAir DH2 - CO Contract 5022 - 5037 UAX- Trans States 5038 - 5082 UAX - Cape Air GUM 5083 - 5083 Cape Air - Extra Section 5085 - 5122 Cape Air (Carribean) 5123 - 5155 UAX-Shuttle America 5156 - 5223 UAX-Skywest 5224 - 5269 UAX- Skywest CRJ 5270 - 5289 UAX- Trans States 5290 - 5659 UAX-Skywest 5660 - 5684 UAX - ExpressJet - CO Contract 5685 - 5774 UAX-ExpressJet - former ASA 5775 - 5784 ExpressJet - former ASA Extra Sections 5785 - 5809 UAX-ExpressJet - CO Contract 5810 - 5899 UAX-Expressjet 5900 - 6189 UAX-ExpressJet - CO Contract 6190 - 6539 UAX- Skywest Airlines 6540 - 6544 UAX - Bus Service - EWR-ABE 6545 - 6548 UAX - Bus Service - IAH-BPT 6549 - 6628 Aeromar 6629 - 6707 Amtrak 6708 - 6748 Austrian Codeshare 6749 - 6828 Air New Zealand 6829 - 6848 LOT-Polish Airlines 6871 - 6872 Cargo Extra Section - sUA Equipment 6873 - 6873 Cargo Extra Section - sCO Equipment 6889 - 7018 SAS - Scandinavian Airlines 7019 - 7038 Blue One 7039 - 7123 Copa Airlines 7124 - 7323 Great Lakes Codeshare 7324 - 7423 TAM Airlines 7424 - 7471 TACA 7472 - 7487 LACSA 7488 - 7523 AVIANCA 7524 - 7623 Air China 7624 - 7661 Aer Lingus 7662 - 7663 Aer Lingus - UA IAD-MAD, MAD-IAD 7664 - 7668 Aer Lingus 7769 - 7788 Turkish Airlines 7789 - 7878 Hawaiian Airlines 7879 - 7914 IslandAir 7915 - 7944 South African Airways 7945 - 7974 Qatar Airways 7975 - 8014 Asiana 8015 - 8714 Air Canada 8715 - 9589 Lufthansa Airlines 9590 - 9639 TAP-Air Portugal 9640 - 9739 ANA-All Nippon 9740 - 9759 UA Extra Section 9760 - 9811 Swiss 9812 - 9814 CO/UA Express Extra Section/RP 9815 - 9834 Jet Airways 9835 - 9854 Aegean Air 9855 - 9868 Egypt Air 9883 - 9899 EVA Air 9900 - 9998 Brussels Airlines
The reason this kind of nonsense exists is because a "flight number" can be a number up to 4 digits long. The solution to this is to make the number larger than 4 digits. A 6 digit number, for example, would allow for 9999 flights on the native metal plus 99 codeshare flights with 9999 flights each. A neat thing with this system is that flight 451234 can be more informative than 9817 to all (flyer; airline personal) because not only do I know that the flight is a codeshare on Jet Airways (because the flight number is >4 digits and begins with 45 for this hypothetical example) but that it is Jet Airway's flight 1234.
The reason this isn't is because of all the fixed width departure and arrival flight boards, terminals, printers; etc. our modern airlines are using to conduct business. <sarcasm>
Nov 4, 2014, 12:02 pm
#43
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
Posts: 8,964
Why does UA change the flight # nearly everyday for the same flight?
I have been trying to follow their daily flight from SEA-IAH that leaves at 7:32 AM. Their flight number changes almost everyday without any rhyme or reason making it impossible to track an on time history on Flight Aware.
Nov 4, 2014, 12:11 pm
#44
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LHR (sometimes CLE, SFO, BOS, LAX, SEA)
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 5,893
The consensus belief is that they do not have enough flight numbers to go around.
Legacy system constraints force UA to have different flight number ranges for flights operated by the UA subsidiary vs the CO subsidiary vs express or partner carriers.
The size of the UA flight number range is *smaller* than the total number of distinct flights operated by UA in a given week. (Frequency and timing changes daily.) Likewise for CO.
It's the pigeonhole principle -- if you have 100 pigeons and 99 holes, and you start stuffing, there's going to be a hole with 2 pigeons in it. Similarly if there are (say) 899 available UA flight numbers and (say) 3000 distinct origin/destination/time-of-day flights that need to be assigned a number within a given month, you will end up seeing "the same" flight with a different number day-to-day.
Legacy system constraints force UA to have different flight number ranges for flights operated by the UA subsidiary vs the CO subsidiary vs express or partner carriers.
The size of the UA flight number range is *smaller* than the total number of distinct flights operated by UA in a given week. (Frequency and timing changes daily.) Likewise for CO.
It's the pigeonhole principle -- if you have 100 pigeons and 99 holes, and you start stuffing, there's going to be a hole with 2 pigeons in it. Similarly if there are (say) 899 available UA flight numbers and (say) 3000 distinct origin/destination/time-of-day flights that need to be assigned a number within a given month, you will end up seeing "the same" flight with a different number day-to-day.
Nov 4, 2014, 12:35 pm
#45
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 334
The consensus belief is that they do not have enough flight numbers to go around.
Legacy system constraints force UA to have different flight number ranges for flights operated by the UA subsidiary vs the CO subsidiary vs express or partner carriers.
The size of the UA flight number range is *smaller* than the total number of distinct flights operated by UA in a given week. (Frequency and timing changes daily.) Likewise for CO.
It's the pigeonhole principle -- if you have 100 pigeons and 99 holes, and you start stuffing, there's going to be a hole with 2 pigeons in it. Similarly if there are (say) 899 available UA flight numbers and (say) 3000 distinct origin/destination/time-of-day flights that need to be assigned a number within a given month, you will end up seeing "the same" flight with a different number day-to-day.
Legacy system constraints force UA to have different flight number ranges for flights operated by the UA subsidiary vs the CO subsidiary vs express or partner carriers.
The size of the UA flight number range is *smaller* than the total number of distinct flights operated by UA in a given week. (Frequency and timing changes daily.) Likewise for CO.
It's the pigeonhole principle -- if you have 100 pigeons and 99 holes, and you start stuffing, there's going to be a hole with 2 pigeons in it. Similarly if there are (say) 899 available UA flight numbers and (say) 3000 distinct origin/destination/time-of-day flights that need to be assigned a number within a given month, you will end up seeing "the same" flight with a different number day-to-day.
This is not unique to United.