Why EZY and not U2?

[TotalBeginner]

I have probably got this totally wrong, but I am under the impression that 2 letter codes are used to prefix flight numbers for scheduled flights and 3 letter codes are used for charter flights. So why do Easyjet use EZY and not U2???

[Hartington]

Many years ago, the aviation industry (probably in the form of ICAO and IATA) decided that a two letter code for each airline was the way to go. Then they realised they were going to run out.

By that time the investment in reservations systems was such that it was going to take a while to sort them out so, as a temporary expedient IATA decided to start issuing codes consisting of a number and a letter. In parallel, because it was assumed that one day the reservations systems would be able to handle them everyone got a 3 letter code as well.

The ATC systems then seem to have made the switch to three letter codes. However, the reservations systems/IATA kept on with 2 characters and adopted the idea of "duplication" where two dissimilar carriers (say a cargo carrier in Europe and a small passenger airline in the Far East) were given the same code. Even then they ran out again and started issuing codes consisting of a letter and a number.

So Easyjet have 2 codes - U2 and EZY and it depends where you look as to which you see.

The FIDS systems at airports seem to be the one system set that don't use one or the other exclusively. I've seen Easy flights shown as both U2 and EYZ on airport monitors.

[WHBM]

The excuse for many years has been that established airlines will not change from 2 to 3 character codes on the "customer" side of things because of the difficulties of reprogramming reservation computers and similar.

I can assure you that all the reservation etc computer systems from that time have long since been redesigned or replaced, and any IT person who did not allow for such a known future requirement would be incompetent. It's all in there. However there is a commercial advantage for the established airlines who have well-known designators (eg BA) to stay with a system that means their younger upstart bretheren like Easyjet have to make do with less recognisable codes.

So for example when I am at Bristol about to go to Glasgow on Easyjet, and look at the departure board and see BAxxxx also leaving for there, that is a form of advertising that BA also do the route. If I am on BA and I see U2xxx going there, unless I am informed about aviation it doesn't convey the message. hence why BA want to stick with the old scheme.

I also guess that U2/EZY confusion leads to slightly more misrouted baggage than BA/BAW does. Why would BA want to support a system change that only benefits their competitors !

The 2-character codes are managed by IATA on the commercial side. The 3-character codes are assigned by ICAO on the operational side. There is the same issue with airport designators, LHR/EGLL being assigned by the same two organisations, the IATA ones being "Memorable", the ICAO ones being "Geographically Logical". Both matters of opinion, by the way !

[MerchantVenturer]

WHBM

When it comes to airport designators isn't it a fact that it is relatively simple in the USA, who simply put a K in front of the IATA designator to make the ICAO designator, but not in the rest of the world?

For example Los Angles is LAX in IATA and KLAX in ICAO, San Francisco SFO and KSFO, New York Kennedy JFK and KJFK, and so on.

I prefer the IATA version worldwide because at least in the UK you can often relate the three letters to the airport itself, eg MAN (Manchester), BRS (Bristol), CWL (Cardiff Wales), LBA (Leeds/Bradford), EDI (Edinburgh) and several others, although MME (Teesside that was, I can never fathom its current handle) is a puzzler.

[WHBM]

ICAO codes need 4 characters, they do many more points than the IATA airports.

To save central administration ICAO allocated the first character to regions, and the second character to subdivisions of the those (often by country), and then lets local offices decide on the last 2 characters.

Fot the USA it was apparent they would be a whole region on their own (K), so they got to decide on the last 3 characters, and they decided to make them the same as the IATA letters already in use. By the way, no US IATA 3-character codes for the USA start with K, N or W as these were reserved for other purposes, hence some of the USA's own oddballs.

The USSR (as it was then) also were their own region (U), but did their remaining 3 letters a different way.

Canada liked the US system and adapted their IATA codes to do the same, but as they had been allocated CY in the ICAO scheme to start they only had 2 remaining letters to play with, which they tried to make memorable, thus CYTO for Toronto and CYVR for Vancouver, etc, hence all the IATA codes in Canada starting with Y when you chop off the first character to make the IATA code. Canada ran short quite quickly, thus when the new airport at Toronto replaced the old they were only left with YZ, hence YYZ for Toronto Pearson.

Britain starts EG, for Northern Europe (E) and Great Britain (G). The country was divided into smaller areas (A for N Ireland, K for the South Coast, L for London, etc), and then there are 26 possible point within that. The same letter as the area code is used for the most important airport in the area. Thus EGAA for Belfast International, EGKK for Gatwick, EGLL for Heathrow.

Germany did it different again. ED to start with, then for major airports they do the D again, and finally the initial of the city. Thus EDDF for Frankfurt, EDDH for Hamburg, EDDM for Munich, etc, with other airports filling in other 2-letter combinations.

I suppose it's easier when you use them every day, but the geographical arrangement does avoid some gross errors for those who understand the system.

I once knew a dealer in Caterpillar earthmoving equipment. Cat use a 21-character code for their spare parts, known in the machinery industry as the longest ever, and this guy know thousands of spare parts codes off the top of his head !

[The SSK]

IATA issue both the 2 and the 3 letter codes.

From the IATA Coding Manual:

Carriers and CRSs recognise the necessity of processing three-letter airline/CRS designators at some future date. All organisations having an IATA assigned two character designator shall continue to use such designator until such time as ATA and IATA Members agree on a conversion date for the use of three-letter designators by such organisations. All organisations receiving an IATA assigned two-character designator, shall notify IATA of their desired three-letter designator, and subsequently IATA will reserve an available designator

I'm sure WHBM is right about identity/recognition.

[MerchantVenturer]

...................but the geographical arrangement does avoid some gross errors for those who understand the system.
WHBM

Many thanks for your detailed explanation.

I take your point about gross errors. Some years ago my wife and I were returning with Northwest and KLM from Phoenix, Arizona to Bristol, England with a/c changes at Minneapolis and Amsterdam.

When we reached BRS - no luggage. We weren't that surprised being regulars from AMS, sometimes as in this case interlining at the end of an intercontinental trip, and had had luggage go astray in the past.

However it turned up the following day and I noticed that the check-in clerk at Phoenix had affixed a final label BRU to the suitcases instead of BRS - he had probably never heard of the latter. I often wonder whether our cases did actually go to Brussels.

BTW, nice to see you apparently still visiting the little airport in the mountains in the former county of Avon.

[WHBM]

MV : At least your luggage didn't go to TRI instead.

still visiting the little airport in the mountains
Yes I do, although the last trip was a one way on Ryanair to Dublin for which I was charged £200 for a 30-minute flight, after which I repel any PPRuNe poster who describes Ryanair as "low fare, you get what you pay for".

I am afraid to say I remember the "little airport's" first opening day, at which time I also recall your own namesake with steam locomotives in charge ! Sorry, we are a long way from U2/EZY.