# Why is the Los Angeles Airport called LAX? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529 "2005-07-28T04:18:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MAGunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@MAGunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MAGunter)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/41 "2005-07-28T21:57:47Z")
I never realized there were so many confusing ones. Dallas/Fort Worth(less) International is DFW. Easy enough, everyone refers to this region as DFW. And Dallas Love Field is, I believe, LUV. Pretty easy there too. ---
**Author:** ![MAGunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@MAGunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MAGunter)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/42 "2005-07-28T22:00:04Z")
> [@](#): > > The renaming of National Airport was a big deal, partially, because Congress mandated the change, yet provided no money to do so. Given that unfunded mandates pretty much go against the central tenets of the Republican Party, the irony was delicious. Not to mention that Reagan wouldn’t have liked the airport being named after him before he died (his mind was already gone when the name change was ordered). I, myself, didn’t start calling it Reagan until after his death. And if I recall, wasn’t the great irony of it all that Reagan slammed down his ironfist during some airport strike during his administration? I don’t remember the details, but I remember hearing this. I was just a wee lad during the Reagan administration, being born in '81. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/43 "2005-07-28T22:04:59Z")
> [@MAGunter](#): > > And Dallas Love Field is, I believe, LUV. Pretty easy there too. Even easier than that. It’s DAL ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/44 "2005-07-28T22:06:40Z")
> [@MAGunter](#): > > And if I recall, wasn’t the great irony of it all that Reagan slammed down his ironfist during some airport strike during his administration? > > I don’t remember the details, but I remember hearing this. I was just a wee lad during the Reagan administration, being born in '81. I remember this well – I was a teen-ager. My summer vacation plans were shot by the strike. The iron fist that Reagan slammed was to fire all the air traffic controllers who went on strike. There is still some question whether this might have been a cause of increases in airplane accidents over the next decade. Another irony is that the Environmental Protection Agency is now housed in a building named after Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/45 "2005-07-29T01:17:32Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > Even more confusing in Kansas City is that no one in town calls it MCI, they call it KCI (for Kansas City International) but that’s not its name. I made the mistake once of typing in “KCI” instead of “MCI” when looking for flights online, and almost wound up booking a trip to Indonesia! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/46 "2005-07-29T01:18:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > **brad-d** ’s > > MSY - New Orleans, former site of Moisant Stock Yards well that is the first I had heard of that! I suspect that name was created well after Lt. Moisant became famous. 🙂 There were stockyards out there at one time though. But Lt. Moisant (IIRC a barnstormer after WWI) wasn’t involved in them. Certainly the airport wasn’t named for them. From their website: " The proposed new airport was named for John Moisant, an early aviation pioneer, in 1940. The Kenner site was approved by the City and 648 acres was purchased." see: > **[Official Home - Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport](https://flymsy.com/)** > > Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is an international airport under Class B airspace in Kenner, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by the city of New Orleans and is 11 miles west of downtown New Orleans. A small... ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/47 "2005-07-29T01:54:25Z")
There was a proposal to name rename LAX in honor of James Stewart, however there already is a Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, NY, so that idea had to be dropped. I suppose those of us in the LA area just can’t agree on any one particular person to name something after. The international terminal at LAX is the Tom Bradley Terminal, named after the former mayor. The problem Los Angeles has is that there has been _too much_ aeronautical history in the area. There have been numerous aviation companies in the area and it may be hard to settle on one there. The former Burbank Airport, which started out as a test area for Lockheed and then became Hollywood-Burbank and then became Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena is now Bob Hope, whose home was relatively close to the aiport. I guess Los Angeles is just short on beloved figures. ---
**Author:** ![MAGunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@MAGunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MAGunter)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/48 "2005-07-29T03:53:26Z")
That’s right, LUV is Southwest Airlines stock symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/49 "2005-07-29T04:38:56Z")
…And now, for extra credit: What is Amtrak’s three-letter code for Union Station, in downtown L.A.? Correct, it’s **LAX**. No kidding. Nope, I can’t say for sure, but I really suspect that the airfield codes came first. …Long Beach Muncipal Airport is pretty straightforward, LGB, and it’s just as well they didn’t try to set it up with the original name of the place, Daugherty Field. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/50 "2005-07-29T05:39:52Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Also, N codes were originally reserved for Navy facilities, so Norfolk and Newark had to start 1 letter in with their codes. So is this why Northwest Arkansas Regional is XNA? ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/51 "2005-07-29T06:35:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The half-system is the FAA system, which is simply the ICAO designator without the K. For Canadian airports, they drop the C. As a separate matter, most (all?) Canadian ICAO designators have a 2nd letter of Y, which represents a leftover from the system used before the current ICAO system was standardized in the 1950s. Is there any particular reason for Canada to start with Y, or is it just one of those things? And while we’re at it, very few of the codes for Canadian airports (that I know at least) have any relation to the name of the city or the airport. For example: Vancouver International = YVR makes sense, but then we’ve got Toronto Pearson = YYZ Montreal Dorval (recently renamed Trudeau) = YUL Victoria = YYJ Calgary = YYC (I guess that one kind of makes sense, aside from that extra Y) Where do these ones come from? ---
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/52 "2005-07-29T07:40:51Z")
No special reason for Canada to start with “Y”, just as the “K” that the US uses really means nothing. It should be considered an honor, because it means that Canada gets Y+3 naming. I believe only the US and Canada have the “letter” +3 honor. For everyone else’s ICAO identifier they start with the region first, then the country, then the airport (as **LSL Guy** said a while back). For example Frankfurt, Germany gets EDDF. E=Europe. D=Deutschland. DF= Frankfurt. Northwestern Europe has the “E” first letter; southern Europe has “L”, Mexico and Central America has “M”, etc. And (complete nitpick) the airport in Panama (MPTO) is Tocumen Intl. At least it was the last time I flew there! ---
**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 29, 2005, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/53 "2005-07-29T10:16:23Z")
By coincidence, I stumbled across this just last night: [Airport ABCs: An Explanation of Airport Identifier Codes](http://www.skygod.com/asstd/abc.html) Those of us in general aviation have had to re-learn that continental US airports really do have a “K” in front of the identifiers we’re used to using since some of the high-end GPS units have started showing up in our airplanes. If it has a world-wide database of airports you’re going to need the full code to program it. If I recall correctly, Alaska and Hawaii use a different prefix than K - I think it’s P? Don’t know 'cause I don’t fly out that way. At least I haven’t yet. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/54 "2005-07-29T12:29:39Z")
> [@pilot141](#): > > And (complete nitpick) the airport in Panama (MPTO) is Tocumen Intl. At least it was the last time I flew there! The last time I flew in there, Torrillos was still in power and the place was called Torrillos International. Tocumen was the name of a nearby village and was the secondary name of the airport. I suspect it had been named Tocumen before Torrillos got a swell head & renamed it after himself. Now that he’s in jail in Miami, I guess the locals gave it the old name back. I haven’t been there or looked it up since the the early 80s. ---
**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 29, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/55 "2005-07-29T13:34:06Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > If I recall correctly, Alaska and Hawaii use a different prefix than K - I think it’s P? Don’t know 'cause I don’t fly out that way. At least I haven’t yet. From the FAA link: > [@](#): > > For other non-contiguous United States airports, the following two letter prefix will be used: > Alaska - PA, PF, PO, PP > Hawaii - PH > Puerto Rico - TJ > Virgin Islands - TI > (See ICAO Document 7910 for listings.) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/56 "2005-07-29T14:46:50Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > CIN is the identifier for the[Carroll, IA](http://www.city-data.com/city/Carroll-Iowa.html) airport. Cinncinnati in Iowa is a town in the sourthest corner along the Missouri border. It must have a population of under 500 because the Rand-McNally road atlas doesn’t list it. Always wondered _where_ that was. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/57 "2005-07-29T18:11:11Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Always wondered _where_ that was. Hey, don’t sneer. Cincinnati, IA is growing rapidly and soon will spill over the border into the suburb of Covington, MO. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/58 "2005-07-29T20:35:34Z")
> [@brad\_d](#): > > In case anyone doesn’t feel like taking Johnny’s word for it, the airport’s site agrees with him in their [FAQ](http://www.lawa.org/lax/travelerInfoFAQs.cfm#q23):That’s actually from the website of [Los Angeles World Airports](http://www.lawa.org), which owns and operates the Los Angeles International, Ontario International, Palmdale Regional and Van Nuys Airports. > > Isn’t ORD derived from Orchard Field, or something like that (what it was called before being renamed O’Hare)? I’m relying on my memory here… Ordway, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/59 "2005-07-29T21:51:30Z")
Well I’ll be damned. I always thought the “ **X** ” in “LAX” stood for “Airport.” Because, you see, the crossed runways of an airport make a kind of “X” if you use your imagination. That, and I’ve seen shorthand where “X” is used to indicate “airport.” As in, “I’m picking up Aunt Molly at Bloomington X. I’ll be back by 9:30.” ---
**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 30, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529/60 "2005-07-30T02:08:20Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Because, you see, the crossed runways of an airport make a kind of “X” if you use your imagination. LAX has four parallel runways. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-los-angeles-airport-called-lax/314529.md?page=4)