# Why is it called LAX? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2002, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123 "2002-07-21T20:16:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/21 "2002-07-22T01:22:52Z")
I think that they _try_ to make FAA desigations for airports come close to the name. LAX = **L** os **A** ngeles International LAS = **Las** Vegas (McCarran) SAN = **San** Diego (Lindbergh) WJF = Lancaster (General **W** illiam **J**. **F** ox) MSY = New Orleans (kinda sounds like **Moisant** , the former name of the airport) FAT = Fresno ( **F** resno **A** ir **T** erminal) On the other hand, some airport designations have nothing to do with the name. For example, L71 = California City Municipal Airport I think the reason for the three-letter designators goes back to when they used teletypes. “LAX” takes less time to type, less bandwidth on the telephone lines (no digital cable back then!), and less space on the paper punch tapes that were used to send messages and on the paper the messages were printed out on (no CRT monitors back then either). MPSIMS: My dad was in the FAA in the 1970s and into the 1990s. When I was a kid he showed me how you you could make a bell ring in the teletype by punching CNTL-G. I used to make simple songs like “Jingle Bells” and “Mary had a little lamb” by punching bells and spaces and then playing the paper tape (not transmitting!). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/22 "2002-07-22T01:24:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squish \* > \*\* > Are there two major airports in Orlando? Because when I worked in reservations the code was ORL. 😕 \*\* I remember back in the 70s there was another airport in Orlando, but the bigger jets went into (what was then called) McCoy. My guess is that once an airport gets a designation, it keeps it forever unless the airport is closed as well as replaced. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/23 "2002-07-22T01:35:59Z")
Then there’s the joy of Souix City, IO, airport code SUX. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/24 "2002-07-22T01:51:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\* > > Probably because it would require a ridiculous amount of beaurocratic nonsense for very little gain. > > Haj \*\* No gain at all, and a lot of confusion since the three character code is how many airports are referred to by people who work in the air industry. BTW, my mom worked in reservations for AA for years. She told me that the code for Nashville is BNA. There was some good reason but her co-workers called it “Banana” airport. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/25 "2002-07-22T02:18:47Z")
I thought that at one time “X” was the designation for an international airport. Granted, it’s not on EVERY international airport, but it’s on some. I could swear I read this when my friend was in flight attendant training. As others have noted, many names are based on historical airport monikers and they stick even when the airport changes its name. And I could swear that all Canada airports have (or used to have) a common letter to designate that they’re not in the U.S. Where’s a flight attendant when you need one? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/26 "2002-07-22T02:51:12Z")
Cranky, you’re right about the Canadian airports, they tend to start with ‘Y’. Mom also mentioned that. (I think I’ve heard that they stopped that as they were running out of usable airport codes for Canada) YVR - Vancouver However, I don’t know about the “X” thing for international airports. I know my airport (DFW) and Houston Intercontinental (HOU) are both international airports, and surely either JFK or LaGuardia (LGA) (or both) are international. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/27 "2002-07-22T03:06:11Z")
I think all the Canadian ones start with Y: YYZ for Pearson (i.e. Toronto International, the big one) in Toronto ; YVR for Vancouver International… Time for [Google](http://www.google.com/search?q=Canada+airport+codes+YYZ&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=eo&btnG=Google+Sercxo)…and voila! From [airportcitycodes.com](http://www.airportcitycodes.com/aaa/index.html): [airport codes beginning with Y](http://www.airportcitycodes.com/aaa/arptdef/yarpt.html). Interestingly, some of the Y codes are for airports not in Canada. Most of these have names starting with Y, but there are some odd exceptions, such as YIP for Detroit/Willow Run. From [http://travelsucks.com](http://travelsucks.com) we have a [list of Canadian airport codes](http://travelsucks.com/tools/airport-codes2.html); some do not begin with Y. Most of those that do not, start with X or Z, but there is a DUQ for “Duncan/Quam, BC”. Is there a code for every airstrip in the country, no matter how obscure? It looks like most of the major cities in the world have airport codes that approximate the name of the city or possibly the name of the airport. [list of international codes](http://travelsucks.com/tools/airport-codes3.html) [list of US codes](http://travelsucks.com/tools/airport-codes.html) My hunch is correct: Ho Chi Minh City’s airport code is still SGN. 🙂 And it’s nice to know that you can scribble PZH on a baggage tag and have it go to Zhob, Pakistan… ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/28 "2002-07-22T03:18:54Z")
Regarding MIA, it is the first three letters of the city’s name, as well as the abbreviation of the official name of the airport, Miami International Airport. What other airports can say this? And yes, I have not only had luggage, but items inside my shaving kit, inside my luggage, go missing all by themselves. Funny how that happens down here, huh? Too close to the Bermuda Triangle, must be. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/29 "2002-07-22T04:06:19Z")
There aren’t all that many codes that end in X. Among the [top 100 airports in the U.S.](http://www.infoguides.com/airports/codes.htm), only 4 end in X, and in two of them (JAX and PHX) the X is not at all mysterious. JAX (Jacksonville FL) LAX (Los Angeles CA) PDX (Portland OR) PHX (Phoenix AZ) Among smaller airports, another one that makes sense is LEX (Lexington KY) ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/30 "2002-07-22T04:20:01Z")
The Detroit/Willow Run airport is located just out of Ypsilanti, so I’m guessing YIP comes from that! ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/31 "2002-07-22T04:46:52Z")
Regarding the difficulty of changing identifier if the airport changes names, it would be ridiculously difficult. You’d have to change: - All maps, charts, publications, guides, etc. - the baggage handling computer system - ticket reservation system - fixes programmed into GPS receivers and other navigational equipment aboard each plane - flight planning software for pilot use - flight planning software linking ATC facilities - programming within ATC radars (that automates interfacility stuff) Just to name a few. And this would all have to be done virtually instantly for it to all work out right. In the aviation world, airports are generally know _BY_ their identifier, not their name. The identifier is what’s important to the “system” (meaning everything from the computers to the pilots to anybody involved), not the name. They could change the name every week and it wouldn’t make that big of a difference. But change the identifier, and now you’ve screwed everything up. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/32 "2002-07-22T06:39:24Z")
Ok can someone explain naming Newark Internaltion (NJ) to EWR? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/33 "2002-07-22T10:44:38Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by **Revtim** _ > Why don’t they change the abbreviations when the name of the airport changes? Same reason you don’t change your social security number if you change your name. That code is called an _identifier_ - it identifies the airport for all time. > [@](#): > > _originally posted by **Sunspace** _ > Is there a code for every airstrip in the country, no matter how obscure? Yep. The one I fly out of most often is 05C, which stands for “Griffith-Merrillville Airport”. Originally they probably tried to make the identifier have some relation to the name of the airport, but nowadays, especially if you’re talking about a small airport, it could be anything. Technically, all United States airports have a “K” attached to the front, to distinguish them from other countries’ airports, but it’s almost never used. The one exception being some GPS units which would require you to enter “KLAX”. “KMIA”, “KDTW”, or “KORD” for some of the airports discussed in this thread. Other countries have a different initial character but darned if I could recite them off the top of my head, since all my flying has been in the US ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/34 "2002-07-22T10:52:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MannyL \* > \*\*Ok can someone explain naming Newark Internaltion (NJ) to EWR? \*\* From nEWaRk, at a guess? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/35 "2002-07-22T11:57:22Z")
Airports can, very rarely, get a new identification code. Oslo used to have two airports, the late and curiously lamented Fornebu (FBU) (okay, it was crappy and obsolescent, but you couldn’t beat the commute time from downtown!) and the smaller Gardermoen (GEN). FBU has been closed, the bastards are building a suburb over it and soon you won’t be able to tell there ever was an airport there. GEN has been expanded, updated, and basically changed beyond all recognition. At the same time as the airport formally moved from FBU to GEN (between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. one October night in '98), the codes became obsolete. Gardermoen was rechristened [Oslo Airport Gardermoen](http://www.osl.no/english/), code OSL. It’s probably relevant to note that OSL had been in use previously, sort of. It stood for “Oslo - All Airports”. Since Oslo now only has one airport, you could say the abbreviation was just transferred, not changed - but GEN is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/36 "2002-07-22T12:40:47Z")
Zyada–actually, Oveta Culp Hobby Airport in Houston is HOU; George Bush Internatioal Airport (aka Houston Intercontinental) is IAH. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/37 "2002-07-22T12:51:44Z")
John F. Kennedy International Airport has the unsurprising airport code of JFK. I know JFK oringially opened in 1948 as Idlewild (IDL) [cite](http://members.tripod.com/~psa188/). It obviously did not change to JFK until the mid-1960’s, and the airport designator changed as well as the name. Were the airport designators more susceptable to change at that time, or was the name change to JFK an exception? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/38 "2002-07-22T13:06:10Z")
As to the ORL/MCO thing: The airline _Reservations system_ can bend things a little around the FAA system – if all commercial airlines into Orlando fly to the former McCoy AFB, a reservations system can “read” a request for ORLando as a redirect to MCO. _Some_ reservations systems allow you to punch in “NYC” and then the screen comes up with flights going to _any_ of LGA , JFK, or EWR. As to codes around where I live, the main San Juan/Luis Muñoz Marín International is reasonably SJU, and the old SJ waterfront airport is SIG (for San Juan at _Isla Grande_). However Ponce, for some dyslexic reason, is PSE; Aguadilla is BQN, for Point **B** orin **q** ue **n** Field, the original name of the former Ramey AFB (and now again the name of the USCG station there). Culebra Island, though, is CPX, apparently having run out of callsigns with the appropriate phonetics. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/39 "2002-07-22T13:14:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squish \* > \*\*Are there two major airports in Orlando? Because when I worked in reservations the code was ORL. 😕 \*\* Two and a half (sort of): 1. Orlando International Airport - southeast of Orlando, just off Rte 528/Beeline and Rte 417/Greeneway – the big one, multi-terminals, and adding on another terminal within the next few years (although I think this is on hold for awhile, til the local economy picks back up). Large passenger and cargo jets, domestic and international flights 2. Orlando Executive Airport, just east of downtown on Rte. 50/Colonial Drive (within a major mall and strip mall area). Primarily private and charter jets (lots of puddle jumpers). 3. Sanford-Orlando International Airport - about 45 minutes north of Orlando and a goodly ways from any of the tourist attractions. An attempt by the town of Sanford to wrest international flights from OIA (#1 above). Lost a court case when they tried to call themselves Orlando-Sanford Airport (even through there are 6 towns between them and Orlando, got into MAJOR trouble with environmental groups and the federal government when they cut down an active (productive) Bald Eagle’s nest that was “in the path of a proposed runway” that was to be built in several years (IIRC, it ended up getting nixed since it was too short and over the path of several houses). Serious fines, restitutions and quite a few heads rolled on that one. Serves primarily charter flights from the UK. Either #2 (for size) or #3 (for location) could be considered the “half”. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123/40 "2002-07-22T14:42:39Z")
Private pilot checking in. Good place to look up podunk airport codes: [www.airnav.com](http://www.airnav.com) And airports do change identifyers. See [http://www.airnav.com/airports/id-changes.html](http://www.airnav.com/airports/id-changes.html) Or for the complete list (since 1995): [http://www.airnav.com/airports/id-changes-all.html](http://www.airnav.com/airports/id-changes-all.html) I know they are phasing out 4 digit codes (typically state id plus 2 numbers) Brian, who flys out of CHU (Houston County airport in MN), and who has flown to 49Y (now FKA) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-lax/120123.md?page=3)