Have you ever wondered how airlines pick flight numbers? Okay, maybe you haven’t… after all, why would you? In this post, I did want to address a fun aspect of this, as airlines sometimes have more fun than you realize with picking flight numbers.
Continue reading: How Airlines Decide On Flight Numbers, And Have Fun While They’re At It
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Aa lax-mia flight is 787 ....but operated with a 777-200er. If you really wanted to make sense they should have put a 787 on the route.
CX uses flight numbers that start with "8" for its transpacific routes to North America primarily due to the number's cultural significance and to help with geographic organization within the airline's internal systems. In many Asian cultures, the number 8 is considered a very lucky number, associated with prosperity and good fortune. By using "8" in flight numbers for key international routes, especially those connecting to North America, the airline leverages this cultural belief, which is likely intended to be auspicious for both the airline and its passengers.
airlines pretend there is a system. Lower numbers for prestige. Higher numbers for, I dont know, chaos. Odd numbers one direction, even numbers the other. Bull. As if anyone is actually following those rules. Whp cares? I swear they just grab a bingo ball, squint at it, and go, “Yes, this feels like the spiritual essence of a route to Omaha.” Crap.
And do not get me started on the flights that share numbers across different airlines as if they are trying to summon confusion like a ritual. A flight from Tokyo and a flight from Boise both labeled 214, and everyone acts like this is perfectly fine. I imagine the universe groaning every time it happens, like it is being forced to alphabetize socks.
I was flying ATL-LAS on Delta a noticed my flight number was 711. No, I didn't crap out.
A flight to Chicago should be 2564 referencing the band Chicago hit song 25 or 6 to 4.
Fake. Not a real flight number. The DEN-DFWs are numbered 1730-1744 (even for Arrivals to DEN / odd fro Departures). do BETTER please
Spirit has, and had in the past under prior heads of network planning, many flight numbers that were area codes of the cities.... like NK305 to South Florida (I believe it's EWR-MIA right now). 954 to FLL from LAS (and 777 was the reverse of that flight). 202 to BWI. 312 to ORD. 404 was FLL-ATL for a decade or more.
Also a few others that were "vanity" flight numbers... the person who did the flight numbers put 1776 on Niagara Falls... reference to Rush and YYZ. I had my birthday as flight number from where I managed to my birthplace.
Thanks Ben, light-hearted and informative post to start the week! Unfortunately flight AY666 (CPH-HEL) was retired (banished?) some years back https://yle.fi/a/3-9883118 although ANA still appears to have a flight 666 to Nagasaki.
How about a sequel post on "offensive/embarrassing" three-letter IATA airport codes https://onemileatatime.com/news/india-gay-airport/ and city pairs? Another AY offender sadly no longer with us: FUK-HEL)
AA did not retire flight 1 despite a fatal 707 crash after takeoff from JFK enroute to LAX back in 1962.
Avianca still uses 52 on a LIM-BOG flight.
Fake - Today and many other days there are two AA 420 flights one from DFW to DEN and the return flight from DEN to DFW. Do better please
In 2017 I flew AY666 to HEL.
From CPH. I think they discontinued that flight number later that year as Flight Aware shows it last operating in Oct 2017
A few airlines are running out of numbers and use the same flight numbers for a flight to remote station and back.
In the 1970's and 80"s every common to have change of gauge, like a 727 to JFK and then 747 to Europe, all with the same flight number
I’ve gotta say, I think Lufthansa flight 2222 might just be the most subtle and hilarious flight number of all.
Hilarious yes, subtle no.
I know the number of flights has expanded.
But is not using the same flight number for more than 1 flight on a day asking for trouble?
QANTAS's flights from DFW are numbered after famous Dallas Cowboys players. DFW to SYD is QF8 after Troy Aikman, the Cowboys quarterback who wore number 8 while DFW to MEL is QF22 after Emmitt Smith, the Cowboys running back who wore number 22.
Love all these avgeek/light hearted post, Ben! I was going to say that despite that I’m sure there are going to be ridiculous comments forming issues out of thin air. But looks like I got beaten and there’s already one. Classic.
Incidentally, GAY was one of the alternatives that were offered to Sioux City when it wanted to change its airport code -- which (is) SUX.
I keep experiencing flights from CLT to non-hub domestic destinations that use the same flight number on both the outbound and return flights. In every case I experienced, the same aircraft was used for both flights.
Have always loved Hawaiian flight 50 HNL - JFK, named for the TV classic Hawaii 5-0
I've always thought it would be cool if Finnair used AY666 for their flights from Singapore. You would be going from SIN to HEL(L) on 666
Speaking of flight numbers, apparently JL 516 which was the A350 accident in Haneda is still in use. I thought it'd be retired by now. For comparison, KE 631 has been retired which was Korean's latest write-off in Cebu.
Someone should remind Asian airlines not to use 88 on any flights that go to Western countries, specifically Germany or Austria. In the Latin alphabet, H is the eighth letter, therefore 88 means HH. It's a very popular greeting in German speaking countries, due to it's history. As a matter of fact, European sports teams are prohibited from using 88 on any shirts due to that very specific pro-nazi concept. I always try to explain it to Asians around here, but they not very bright or open-minded to understand.
Given that you're flying from CLT I'm assuming this is AA. While I assume that DL and UA are in a similar position, I can say that AA is certainly stretched for flight numbers. While it is possible to use the same number twice in a day, you can't have two flights in the air at the same time with the same number (it may be slightly more nuanced than that, but that's the gist). If a flight is ever delayed 24 hours and would be in the air at the same time as the same flight the next day they tack on an extra character (usually a letter? someone can correct me if I'm wrong) to differentiate the two. That said, if you know you need to use the same number multiple times then assigning them to an out-and-back is by far the safest way to do it. If the outbound is delayed within the same day (which is going to cover the vast majority of delays) the inbound will be delayed too so you're still guaranteed not to have multiple flights with the same number in the air at the same time. It's a pretty smart use of an increasingly-scarce resource (for the biggest airlines, at least).
Everybody in HKG wants a phone number, license-plate number, Bank account number..etc; with the number '8'. I think one of the most expensive car License-plate was '28', costing about US$ 2.5M. (Because the number sounds like "Easy to Prosper" in Chinese) Conversely, the number '4' is considered bad luck. (Sounding like "Die"!) Most airlines, even Western airlines flying into HKG, lean heavily with '8' in their flight numbers
I find it very odd that AA uses the same flight number for JFK-SNA and SNA-JFK. I can't think of any other airline that does this. Not sure if AA does this on other routes as this is the only one I can think of.
@Segio GAY is now assigned to Gaya in India and the local politicians apparently took issue with that and demanded change but the Union government declined to do anything.
AA 1776 isn't just any flight out of Philadelphia; it's a flight to Boston, the other most important city of the American Revolution. I flew it back in August.
Many AA flights from DFW-SEA are Boeing aircraft types as the number. AA717,767,757...
it is not uncommon. with the volume of flights airlines have, flight numbers may be used for multiple flights. Usually they are out and backs to avoid conflicts with ATC
you are 100% correct. ATC will even notify an airline if they have a callsign conflicting with another airline with a similar flight number. a letter will be appended to the callsign until network planning reassigns a new flight number
Actually, AA used 1776 for the BOS-PHL flight a few week ago, then switched back to PHL-BOS. And they use 4000 range flight numbers for both directions of their shuttle flights. For example, AA 4503 is a JFK-BOS-JFK flight.
That's because the world doesn't revolve around your feelings. In Chinese culture, the number 8 is auspicious; therefore there are cultural references to that all over the place. As for being bright - or open-minded - it seems that you are neither, since you demand for everyone to accommodate your personal view points.
@Ben, TLV-DXB is LY 971, DXB-TLV is LY 972. Both flight numbers are destination country codes.
Asians not being bright? I disagree, but still, my heart goes out to you, to help you change your incorrect statement.
Thank you, Moishe and Aaron. I was actually sticking up for your kind. How about this, keep 88 in China, and HH in Western Europe.
Interesting article. Thanks. I guess I've been wrong all these years, I thought the FAA and their foreign equivalents required unique flight numbers for all routes, just to avoid confusion.
All I'm trying to say is that everyone should be in their own comfort zone. Orientals in orient, and Europeans in Europe. And let's respect each other's cultural and traditional heritage.
So the AA FLL-PHL 7am flight has been AA444 for years. As an Asian American of Chinese descent, I can say that 4 means death. 444 = Triple Death. AA would not dare number a flight to a place with a higher % Asian population (Philly doesn't have a sizable Asian population). Some folks might be spooked by flying a "triple death" flight! I sure would! Few months ago, AA renumbered this flight to AA1292. Maybe an AA employee finally told AA HQ in DFW this LOL.
LMFAO East Asians have the highest average IQ of any group in the world. Very well documented in study after study.
Last superbowl, AA added extra sections from MCI. Flight 15 and 87 for Mahomes and Kelsey’s jersey numbers.
There are several AA MIA-MCO-MIA out and backs that carry the same flight number.
It all sounds like superstition, like Unoted not having a row 13 on its airplanes. They're just numbers, people.
We’re not talking about IQ of Indians. I’m simply trying to show that Chinese find it very difficult to leave their oriental comfort zone that revolves around 8. Nobody in the civilized West is interested in their silly superstitions.
LMFAO, when one talks about "East Asians" IQ and replies back with "IQ of Indians"
Pretty much sums it all up.
Nobody in the civilized East is interested in your Reich paranoid either.
Swastika was used in the East thousands of years before you're paranoid.
I’m simply trying to show that Anglo-Saxons find it very difficult to leave their European comfort zone that revolves around a few symbols.
#hypocrites
The population of folks of Asian descent has popped up significantly in the last 20 years or so in Philly, particularly from the arrival of Vietnamese folks, and Koreans (Olney). Little Saigon in Philly is one of the biggest in the States, though I never even knew about it growing up; Philly has one of the most underrated Chinatowns (IMHO anyway), too, but it hasn't grown much since I was a kid in the 80s-90s. Philly isn't anything like the cities on the West Coast or NYC re: Asian populations, but it has changed significantly over the last few decades - visit (though not on AA444)!
Down here in Oz we have YSHT for Shepparton which many pronounce as "Why Sh**T" 🙂 🙂