Airlines Are Hiding ‘Easter Eggs’ With Hidden Meanings Into Their Flight Numbers… Here Are Some of Our Favorites

Flight numbers are, of course, an essential part of an airline’s operation, but what you might not know is that most carriers have quite a bit of freedom over how they assign these numbers… and that can lead to some pretty inventive and entertaining ‘Easter Eggs’ hidden into the flight number.

A flight number is composed of two crucial elements. The first part is a two-character airline ‘designator’ code, a unique identifier for each airline that always stays the same.

The airline designator code is assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and whule they used to just be two letters, the growing number of global airlines means that some carrier now have designators that include letters and numbers.

Officially, IATA has the ability to assign airline designator codes with up to three characters, but since the alphanumeric system was introduced in the early 1980s, IATA has stuck with the two-character system (at least for now).

After the designator code, there is a number that generally ranges from two to three characters but can sometimes be just one character.

Airlines have quite a bit of freedom in how they assign these numbers to best meed their needs.  For example, some airlines might assign two character numbers to flagship routes, three character numbers to international flights and four character numbers to domestic, regional or special flights.

In some cases, airlines might assign a series of numbers of specific regions.  For example, all numbers beginning with 3 might serve a single region, while all numbers beginning with 4 serve a different region.

And in some countries, a flight number doesn’t necessarily just serve a single set of destinations but could be linked through a flight route.

There are many more intricacies to how airline flight numbers work but what I wanted to focus on is the fun that some airlines have with the flight numbers by concealing hidden meanings or ‘Easter Eggs’ into their flight numbers.

Here are some of my favorites:

• American Airlines: AA 1492 DFW-CMH : This is a fairly popular flight number shared by several airlines serving Columbus and it of course represents the year 1492 when Christopher Columbus reached the ‘New World’.
• JetBlue: B6 007 JFK-LHR : In a nod to the world-famous fictional spy James Bond, JetBlue uses his spy code 007 as ones of its flight numbers serving the British capital.
• Delta Air Lines: DL 777 ATL-LAS : Just like flights to Columbus, you’ll find a lot of airlines use 777 for flights between their home hub and Las Vegas.  If you’re not a gambler, 777 represents a jackpot on many slot machines.
• United Airlines: UA 1776 ORD-PHL : This is another popular flight number for US carriers serving Philadelphia and is a nod to the United States signing the Declaration of Independence in the city in 1776.
• Alaska Airlines: AS 500 SEA-IND : To represent and honor the iconic Indy 500, Alaska Airlines serves Indianapolis with flight 500 from its hub in Seattle.
• Lufthansa: LH 2222 MUN-TLS : This flight number doesn’t have a special meaning, but it’s all about how you say it. When gate agents announce this flight, they have to say, “Flight two, two, two, two, to Toulouse.” That’s a German sense of humor for you!
• Alaska Airlines: AS 412 SEA-PIT : Alaska Airlines flies between Seatle and Pittsburg with flight number 412. The reason is simple – 412 is Pittsburg telephone area code.
• And a special mention to all of the airlines have put on special flights for Taylor Swift Eras Tour concerts and assigned th 1989 flight number in honor of the singer’s hit album.

Of course, there are many more flight numbers with hidden meanings. What are some of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below, and I’ll update this list!