Airport codes, which are three-letter combinations, are logical. Your luggage tag will be marked with "DEN" when you fly into Denver International Airport. If you look at the departures board for your flight, you'll see "MIA."
"YUL" for Montreal-Trudeau International Airport and "ORD" for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport are not understandable.
There are some hidden histories that explain these strange combinations. If you've ever wondered what goes into determining airport codes, read on to learn about the groups of letters that seem to defy logic.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport at least starts with an "O" like its IATA code and may refer to the main part of its name by using "R," but where does the "D" at the end come from? We need to look at the airport's history to get to the bottom of this code.
When the former name of the airport was still used, the "ORD" code was assigned.
In 1949, the Chicago City Council voted to change the airport's name to Edward "Butch" O'Hare, a local hero who died in World War II. The airport is abbreviated.
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Another puzzling code choice is Montreal-Trudeau International Airport's abbreviation. The Montreal airport's use of "Y" to start its IATA code seems like an odd choice.
Montreal-Trudeau is one of the Canadian airports that starts with "Y". We will get to the bottom of this decision if we learn a little Canadian history.
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Canada built a nationwide network of weather reporting stations in the 1930s, which each had a two-letter radio calling code. Incoming pilots would radio the stations to request help.
With the increase in air travel came a need to more efficiently streamline the navigation process. In the early 1940s, Canadian airports adjusted their IATA codes to either include a "Y" or "W" in order to confirm that a weather station radio tower was nearby.
When Montreal's radio station code was "UL", the airport started using "YUL," a code that is still in use today.
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Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) and Portland International Airport (PDX) have the same code. The Phoenix code finishing with an "X" seems logical.
When airport codes in the U.S. were expanded from two to three letters, the "X" was created.
The National Weather Service codes for cities were used at the time. In order to accommodate new codes, IATA had to add an extra letter to existing codes.
For the sake of simplicity and not to confuse pilots or passengers with new letter combinations, IATA added an "X" to the end of the existing codes. That is the way it is.
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If you can tell the story of how the code "MSY" came to be used at the New Orleans International Airport, you will impress your fellow New Orleans flyers.
When the former New Orleans Municipal Airport needed to be expanded in the late 1930s, the city looked for a bigger site.
The New Orleans government, in cooperation with the U.S. military, decided to use an area called the Moisant Stock Yards, which had a small airstrip that had been in use since the beginning of flying.
John Moisant died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve in 1910. He claimed to have piloted the first passenger flight across the English Channel. The area was named after the landowner. The code of the airport was used by the U.S. military during WWII.
In 1960, New Orleans International Airport was renamed to New Orleans International Airport in honor of the local musician's 100th birthday. The airport code has not changed since then.
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Do you know why the New York area airports don't use codes beginning with the letter "N"? There is a branch of the U.S. military involved.
The U.S. Navy only uses the letter "N" at the beginning of domestic IATA codes. Nashville International Airport, Tweed New Haven Airport, and Norfolk International Airport all start with other letters because of this arrangement.
You'll see the letter "N" at the front of the codes for airports in the Bahamas and Tokyo, but not in other countries.
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It may seem like there is no rhyme or reason for the codes. Each IATA-issued abbreviation has a story that fits its airport.
You can search for your favorite IATA code combination by visiting IATA's website and using its tool.
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