You’ve probably noticed the seemingly random numbers and letters on your plane boarding pass before, but have you ever wondered what they mean?
Flight numbers are actually a sophisticated code meant to identify individual planes and journeys. While it’s not crucial for the average passenger to be able to understand them, it does make for a cool way to be a bit more knowledgeable about your flight.
The letter portion of the flight number indicates the airline. Delta uses DL, United Airlines uses UA, American Airlines is AA, etc.
Things get a bit more tricky from there because each airline uses a slightly different system. However, no airline can use more than five digits.
Flickr/
Flickr/Tom Page
Generally, even flight numbers mean that a plane is flying north or east, while odd flight numbers indicate that the flight will be southbound or westbound.
Flickr/
Flickr/Tom Page
Additionally, return flight numbers are usually one digit higher than the outbound flight. For example, an American Airlines flight from Boston to L.A. might be assigned a number like AA401, while the return flight might be AA402.
A good rule of thumb is that the lower the fight number, the more important the route is to the airline. If the flight number ends in a single digit, it was likely one of the earliest routes the airline offered.
And of course, you’re very unlikely to see a flight number that ends in an “unlucky” number like 13 or 666. People are actually less likely to want to board a plane with such an inauspicious label.
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