Not a dumb question. There's two codes used for airlines from 3 different organizations - ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) uses 3 letter codes. The IATA (International Air Transport Association) and ATA (American Transportation Association) both use 2 character codes. The 3 letter codes are used on flight plans and other Air Traffic Control functions. The 2 character codes are used in airline reservation systems, timetables, etc. Originally it was 2 letters allowing for up to 676 combinations. Some combinations, I think, aren't used. Once they ran out of 2 letter codes, they went to 1 letter/1 number and 1 number/1 letter codes, allowing for even more combinations. An interesting sideline. It is possible for 2 airlines to have the same 2 letter code, provided the airlines have no possibility of flying in each other's territories. For example, Uncle Joe's Airline and Garage Door Company may fly flights with a Cessna 172 in only the state of Arizona while David's Big Bad Airline flies larger aircraft but flies only in Australia. The two airlines do not have areas where both companies fly so they could be assigned the same 2 letter code. The plan, at least at one time, was for all airlines to have 3 letter codes but that seems to be more of a pipe dream. No one wants to change all the computer programs to accommodate 3 letters. David R http://home.attbi.com/~damiross http://home.attbi.com/~damiross/books.html ----- Original Message ----- From: "Allan9" <exatc@xxxxxxxxxx> To: <AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 19:07 Subject: Re: [AIRLINE] Piedmont/US Air, Request > David > A dumb question where did B6 come from? > AFAIK only 3 letter contractions assigned. > Al > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <damiross2@xxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 6:59 PM > Subject: Re: Piedmont/US Air, Request > > > > A good way to do it is to name the airline in full the first time then > give the > > code and use the code after that. Example: JetBlue (B6) blah blah blah > > also blah blah blah also blah blah blah and B6 blah blah blah > > blah blah blah > > > > Just a suggestion > > David > > > > > B6 is jetBlue, the hottest airline around. Everyone seems to know QQ > and WN, > > > so what is the big deal. I don't feel like typing jetBlue all the time, > JB > > > means something else and I don't know 3 letter codes > > > > > > In a message dated 8/12/2003 10:19:33 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > > > kurtzke@xxxxxx writes: > > > > > > << Allegheny (a.k.a. Agony) become U.S. Air before it "acquired" > Piedmont. > > > (Interesting tidbit: the other competitor for Piedmont was CSX, > formerly > > > known as the Chessie System for you RR buffs). The reason for the name > > > change was the subject of much caustic and snide comments -- shortly > after > > > the change, on a flight where everything was going wrong, an F/A said > in > > > frustration, "it's still Allegheny." > > > > > > When U.S. Air took over Piedmont, it changed its red U.S. Air logo to a > > > logo where "U.S." was blue and "Air" still red (or maybe it was the > > > other way around). That was part of their way of "integrating" > Piedmont. > > > It did look nicer. > > > > > > Request: When naming airlines, please give the name, especially when > the > > > two letter code does not suggest the name. Most folks know AA is > American > > > -- but not everyone -- but I certainly don't know what B6 is. > > > >> > > >