Airport Codes: The Meaning Behind the Strange Three-Letter Ones
Many of these unusual three-letter mysteries that are put on travelers’ luggage tags are based on the original names of the airports or what installation previously occupied the space where the current air hubs are now. These three-letter designations have survived over time even while the official names of the airports may have changed. This helps to keep confusion and costly changes to aviation-related publications in check, as well as to honor tradition, war heroes, and aviation pioneers.
ORD: Before becoming one of the world’s great crossroads, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was the site of an aircraft factory known as Orchard Place; and thus, the “ORD” designation for Orchard. Later, it became a commercial airfield, known as Orchard Field. In 1949, the name was changed to O’Hare Field, to honor local war hero Edward “Butch” O’Hare. The O’Hare legacy continues on to this day.
CVG: Cincinnati’s international air hub isn’t in Cincinnati nor even in the state of Ohio! It’s located in Kentucky near the city of Covington, whose three letter abbreviation is CVG.
PIE: St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport used to be a military installation known as Pinellas Army Airfield; as a result, the “PIE” abbreviation came from the name Pinellas. It is in this area where the first ever passenger airline ticket was sold on January 1, 1914. Airport officials have actually sent edible PIES to travel agencies and businesses to encourage people to fly to this Florida hot spot!
GEG: Major Harold Geiger was a noted Army aviator and balloonist from times’ past. His name is an ongoing, living legacy every time a GEG symbol is put on luggage or freight coming to Spokane, Washington, via the airways. Spokane International Airport was actually named Geiger Field until 1960, when the name was changed to its current nomenclature.
MCO: The airport code for Orlando’s air hub does not stand for Mickey Mouse Country as some theorize. McCoy Air Force Base used to be at this locale, from which tourists the world over journey to en route to the Disney theme parks in the Orlando area.
IAD, DCA, EYW, and PHF: Cites that begin with the letters K, W, and N aren’t allowed to have airport codes beginning with the first letters of their proper names. The letters K and W are reserved for radio and television stations. The letter N is for Naval Air Station’s usage. So cities beginning with the above letters have to be creative; for instance, Washington, DC, has designations like IAD and DCA. Key West, Florida, is EYW, and the designation for the air hub located in Newport News, Virginia, is PHF, short for Patrick Henry Field.
PDX, LAX, SRQ, and CYS: The airport codes for Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; Sarasota, Florida; and Cheyenne, Wyoming, respectively, do all have one thing in common. The last letter of each of these cities’ three-letter designations is just filler letters that mean nothing at all.
MSY: Last and certainly one of best airport code stories of all is the three letter code designation of the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. On the last day of 1910, John Moisant, the first person to build and fly a plane with an all metal frame, and the first pilot to fly over the English Channel with a passenger and an animal, died of a broken neck after he was thrown out of his nose-diving aircraft at the current location of New Orleans’ major airport. Stock yards for cattle were later put on the land where Moisant met his fate. The owners wanted to honor John Moisant, so they called the stock yards the Moisant Stock Yards, or MSY for short.
The city of New Orleans later bought the stock yards for airfield construction and named the completed project Moisant Field. In 1962, Moisant Field was renamed New Orleans International Airport. Still, the stock yards’ designation remains to this very day, even with the recent Louis Armstrong addition to the official name, and that’s no bull!
