383 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

There are two different code systems.  Under one YYJ is absolutely correct, under the other CYYJ is right.

[sebberry]

Was the switch from area codes to airport codes in urban slang and internet speak ever made official somewhere? We need a governing body for this stuff, it's too hard to keep up with it all.

[tedward]

Was the switch from area codes to airport codes in urban slang and internet speak ever made official somewhere? We need a governing body for this stuff, it's too hard to keep up with it all.

 

Nope, area codes were never specific to urban areas outside Vancouver. Now that more area codes have been added and muddled thanks to cellular networks they are even less associated with geographic areas.

[North Shore]

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says you are wrong:
 
City name     3-letter city code  
  Victoria                  YYJ

There are two types of airport codes: Four-letter ICAO codes used for flight operations/ATC, and three-letter IATA codes used for passenger handling.

ICAO codes consist of a two-letter country prefix and a two-letter airport code. Some countries (those with lots of airports) have more than one prefix. The USA has 26 - KA to KZ. Canada has four, CU, CW, CY and CZ. The vast majority of Canadian airports use IATA codes starting in CY.

(There are some that start in CZ. CU and CW are used for special purposes such as airport met offices.)

For most of the world ICAO codes and IATA codes bear no resemblance to each other. LHR is EGLL, AMS is EHAM, CDG is LFPG.

In the USA and Canada, however, IATA codes are based on ICAO codes.

For US airports the IATA code is the ICAO code without the initial K. JFK is KJFK, LAX is KLAX.

For Canadian airports the IATA code is the ICAO code without the initial C. Hence CYOW = YOW, CYYZ = YYZ.

It appears,VHF,that there are three types of codes...

[Bernard]

Never understood why we only use #yyj and not #ywh, which would be good code for downtown

[aastra]

 

Nope, area codes were never specific to urban areas outside Vancouver...

 

You don't need the "outside Vancouver" part. 604 was BC's area code. Every community in BC was 604. It's one of the original area codes.

 

 

Was the switch from area codes to airport codes in urban slang and internet speak ever made official somewhere?

 

Prior to maybe ten years ago it was very unusual for ordinary people to refer to cities by airport codes. LAX is probably the one that caught on widely first, and even that one didn't get any traction until at least the mid-1990s. Then again, it was also very unusual to refer to cities by area codes since those original area codes typically covered very large areas and included many cities. Equating a city to an area code was a generalization that really only worked in a few instances. We forget this stuff now. There were a couple of questions in the original genus version of Trivial Pursuit about "city" area codes. New York City and Chicago were in there. In my experience people would get those area code questions wrong a lot more times than they'd get them right.

[Mike K.]

KORD has got to be the weirdest code for a massive American airport.

Just sayin'...

[sebberry]

Nope, area codes were never specific to urban areas outside Vancouver. Now that more area codes have been added and muddled thanks to cellular networks they are even less associated with geographic areas.

 

Yes, but in his 2001 song "Area Codes", rap artist Ludacris is very clear about area codes being used to denote the location of his many... er.. lady friends. 

 

The song wouldn't work very well if the lyrics "area codes" were replaced by "airport codes".

 

So at some point between 2001 and now, the practice of using area codes transitioned to using airport codes. 

 

There's a bag of two-bite brownies in it for anyone who can tell me when we transitioned from area codes to airport codes.  Until then, I'll be hash-tagging everything with 250 and 778. 

[aastra]

In my world we never used area codes. Nobody ever said "I'm taking a trip to 604". The reason we didn't say things like that is because it would have been a meaningless generalization in almost every instance. It only really worked for New York City and Chicago and it only sort of worked for a handful of other places. But even for those places nobody ever said it.

Edited by aastra, 21 November 2014 - 05:21 PM.

[D.L.]

 

There's a bag of two-bite brownies in it for anyone who can tell me when we transitioned from area codes to airport codes.

 

It was Twitter that did it, in 2009. Specifically February 12th, 8:46:05 am EST.

[D.L.]

In Toronto, "the 905" is used to refer to the far-flung suburban areas.

[aastra]

Also, I suspect that the average person probably knows one or two airport codes at most. Many people wouldn't know any at all. And many people who are familiar with the term "LAX" would still probably be very surprised to learn that it's the airport code. So again, it's not something that's really in wide use.

[North Shore]

Never understood why we only use #yyj and not #ywh, which would be good code for downtown

'Cos the people using #yyj are too cool to realize that they are using the incorrect code?

[North Shore]

KORD has got to be the weirdest code for a massive American airport.
Just sayin'...

Orchard Field, before it was OHare

[Matt in Langford]

Mira Laurence is out! 

 

http://www.pugetsoun...ncouver-island/

[VicHockeyFan]

Mira Laurence is out! 

 

http://www.pugetsoun...ncouver-island/

 

Huh.  Mira is a great person.  I think she'll do OK.

 

Oh yes, looks like she has been dropped from the Weekend Wellness show on CFAX that she used to co-host.

 

http://www.cfax1070....eekend-Wellness

[Rob Randall]

^Too bad. Was she the longest serving talent on that station? She may have been there when it was The New VI.

[LJ]

Was the switch from area codes to airport codes in urban slang and internet speak ever made official somewhere? We need a governing body for this stuff, it's too hard to keep up with it all.

How about zip codes a la Beverly Hills 90210?

[Sparky]

How about zip codes a la Beverly Hills 90210?

 

I use that in the States when the gas pump asks me for my zip code.

[VicHockeyFan]

I use that in the States when the gas pump asks me for my zip code.

Ha ha I use it all the time too when prompted.