LAX ... why the X?

[Rallispec]

what does the X in LAX (the airport) stand for?

 

[aphex]

International?

 

[Rallispec]

thats what i was thinking too.. but how do you get an X from international?

 

[Ns1]

cuz LAI would sound gay

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
cuz LAI would sound gay

True that

 

[notfred]

Cause two leters isn't enough to uniquely identify all our airports.

San Francisco: SFO
San Jose: SJC
Watsonville: WVI

They need a 3 letter abbreviation, they try to come up w/ something that is easily associated w/ the cit ythe airport is in.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: notfred
Cause two leters isn't enough to uniquely identify all our airports.

San Francisco: SFO
San Jose: SJC
Watsonville: WVI

They need a 3 letter abbreviation, they try to come up w/ something that is easily associated w/ the cit ythe airport is in.

You think thats weird... Newark is EWR

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: notfred
Cause two leters isn't enough to uniquely identify all our airports.

San Francisco: SFO
San Jose: SJC
Watsonville: WVI

They need a 3 letter abbreviation, they try to come up w/ something that is easily associated w/ the cit ythe airport is in.

yeah, i get this.. i'm still wondering where the X comes from though.. how did they choose that letter?

 

[crypticlogin]

From Airport Codes: The ABCs:

When the Wright brothers first took to the air in 1903, there was no need for coding airports since an airport was literally any convenient field with a strong wind. However, the National Weather Service did tabulate data from cities around the country using a two-letter identification system. Early airlines simply copied this system, but as airline service exploded in the 1930's, towns without weather station codes needed identification. A bureaucrat had a brainstorm, and the three-letter system was born, giving a seemingly endless 17,576 different combinations. To ease the transition, existing airports placed an X after the weather station code. The Los Angeles tag became LAX. Incidentally at the historic sand dune in Kitty Hawk, the U.S. National Parks Service maintains a tiny airstrip called FFA - First Flight Airport.

yeah, i get this.. i'm still wondering where the X comes from though.. how did they choose that letter?

Probably so it wouldn't cause any problems with existing / future names. There aren't too many places with an 'x' towards the latter part of the name..?

 

[ElFenix]

x is just a place holder. doesn't stand for anything. theres airports with seemingly incomprehensible codes.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
x is just a place holder. doesn't stand for anything. theres airports with seemingly incomprehensible codes.

That's true. Here in San Angelo our airport is SJT on the map. I have asked FedEx and UPS drivers what it stands for and all they can say is San Angelo, lol.

 

[Evadman]

Itleast Chicago airports all make decent sence. OHR and MDY ( O'hare and Midway ) Nice and simple

 

[Rallispec]

i dont know what the local airports around here are..

Dulles airport, regean internation... i know BWI though.

 

[crab]

Originally posted by: Evadman
Itleast Chicago airports all make decent sence. OHR and MDY ( O'hare and Midway ) Nice and simple

It's ORD.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: crab453

Originally posted by: Evadman
Itleast Chicago airports all make decent sence. OHR and MDY ( O'hare and Midway ) Nice and simple

It's ORD.

I was sure it was OHR. Let me get a tag from my attic.

<edit>
Awww crap. your right. My bad. ORD it is.

 

[crab]

Originally posted by: Evadman

Originally posted by: crab453

Originally posted by: Evadman
Itleast Chicago airports all make decent sence. OHR and MDY ( O'hare and Midway ) Nice and simple

It's ORD.

I was sure it was OHR. Let me get a tag from my attic.

Dang you don't need to do that here

 

[Evadman]

Too late

but midway is MDY! yay!

 

[crab]

Originally posted by: crab453

Originally posted by: Evadman

Originally posted by: crab453

Originally posted by: Evadman
Itleast Chicago airports all make decent sence. OHR and MDY ( O'hare and Midway ) Nice and simple

It's ORD.

I was sure it was OHR. Let me get a tag from my attic.

Dang you don't need to do that here

edit: It's called ORD because untill like the 40s or 50s it was called Orchard Field. They decided to name it after a military pilot from Chicago I think.

<---clicked reply instead of edit

 

[no0b]

Originally posted by: Evadman
Itleast Chicago airports all make decent sence. OHR and MDY ( O'hare and Midway ) Nice and simple

 

[BlueApple]

Originally posted by: Rallispec
i dont know what the local airports around here are..

Dulles airport, regean internation... i know BWI though.

Regean (what a great decision naming an airport after him, the one who fired thousands of control tower workers...) National Airport isn't International, and there is a certain range planes can arrive/depart from it due to noise pollution (limit is 1200 miles I think) It?s code is DCA (District of Colombia Airport) and Dulles is IAD, International Airport Dulles.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: BlueApple

Originally posted by: Rallispec
i dont know what the local airports around here are..

Dulles airport, regean internation... i know BWI though.

Regean (what a great decision naming an airport after him, the one who fired thousands of control tower workers...) National Airport isn't International, and there is a certain range planes can arrive/depart from it due to noise pollution (limit is 1200 miles I think) It?s code is DCA (District of Colombia Airport) and Dulles is IAD, International Airport Dulles.

interesting.. and i didnt know that about reagan.. but now that think about it, it makes since. It used to be just called National, right?

 

[McPhreak]

Originally posted by: tenchim
From Airport Codes: The ABCs:

A bureaucrat had a brainstorm, and the three-letter system was born

For some reason, I just found this phrase funny...

 

[N8Magic]

Near me:

YYZ - Pearson International Airport (Toronto)
YKF - Kitchener-Waterloo Regional Airport

Tell me how you get those letters from that...

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: N8Magic
Near me:

YYZ - Pearson International Airport (Toronto)
YKF - Kitchener-Waterloo Regional Airport

Tell me how you get those letters from that...

thats what you get for being canadian

 

[Haircut]

My local airport, Manchester has a really obscure code: MAN
I wonder how they got that one?