The Fun, Creative Easter Egg Flight Numbers: Here Are My Favorites

Although flight numbers can appear random most of the time, several of them have some sort of pattern and meaning behind them. This all varies by airline, and some airlines have more notable patterns than others.

Flight numbers are determined by many things, but most airlines tend to follow these rules:

• Lower flight numbers typically are reserved for flagship routes, such as United Flight UA1 from San Francisco to Singapore or American Airlines flight AA1 from New York JFK to Los Angeles. Many airlines reserve the rest of the single-digit and double-digit flight numbers for international routes.
• Airlines tend to avoid numbers that may be perceived as a sign of bad luck. Flight number 666 is typically not used in the U.S., while other nations will avoid numbers that signal bad luck in their own culture. ANA, for example, avoids flight NH4 as the pronunciation of the number 4 in Japanese is the same as “death.” Because of this, the number is sometimes perceived as bad luck.
• Higher flight numbers, over 3000 and 4000, are often reserved for regional flights. Numbers between 9000 and 9999 are typically non-revenue flights, such as repositioning flights.

As I said, this all differs based on the carrier. But most U.S. carriers and many international airlines vaguely follow these points.

That said, I’m not here to talk about the nuances and details of flight numbers. I want to highlight some of the “Easter Eggs” and the creative ones, both in the U.S. and on some international flights. Airlines do get creative with these, so here are some of the most notable, as well as some of my favorites.

“Lucky” Flight Numbers

A common one you’ll see is the flight number 777 for Las Vegas, obviously a lucky 7s reference to its destination. The one above is an American Airlines flight AA777 from its largest hub at DFW.

United also has UA777 from Chicago to Vegas, while Delta has DL777 from Atlanta to Vegas. Both are their largest hubs for them.

Similarly, United assigns the flight number UA888 to its San Francisco to Beijing flight, as 8 is considered a lucky number in China.

You’ll also find Chinese carriers with flight numbers with the number 8 for several of their flagship routes, such as Cathay Pacific flight CX880 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles.

Interestingly, the Boeing 787-8 and -9 variants’ numbers were also influenced by China, as both 8 and 9 are numbers of good luck (credit to Jon Ostrower on a recent The Air Show Podcast episode for this).

Homage to Aircraft Types

Japan Airlines operates a Boeing 787 between Tokyo Narita and Boston. This route was the first to be flown with JAL’s 787s, which is reflected by the flight numbers. Boston to Tokyo is Flight JL7, while Tokyo to Boston is Flight JL8. This is probably my favorite one.

And although it was a one-off charter flight, the very first Boeing 787 flight in the world had the flight number NH7871.

History in Flight Numbers

These history-related flight numbers are pretty hard to miss. The above photo is Flight AA1776 from Philadelphia to Boston, which is obviously a reference to the American Revolution. Both Philadelphia and Boston were cities that played a significant role in the war.

United also has flight UA1776 from Chicago to Philadelphia.

Here’s American Airlines flight AA1492 from Dallas to Columbus, Ohio, a clear reference to the discovery of the American continents in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. United flies UA1492 as well, from Chicago to Columbus.

Other Special Numbers

Some flight numbers have references to their destination, such as telephone area codes. Here are a couple of examples:

• JetBlue flight B6 604 from Vancouver to New York JFK: 604 is the area code for the Vancouver area.
• Alaska flight AS412 from Seattle to Pittsburgh: 412 is the area code for the Pittsburgh area.

There are plenty more in this massive industry. Tell me if you know of any others!

Featured image by the author.