Originally, airports had two-letter codes, and the IATA was not involved in assigning them . When aviation was in its infancy, the origins of the airport code system emerged in the United States ...

If you went from "LOL" to "OMG" to "EEK," you might have laughed, gasped then grimaced — or you might have just traveled from Lovelock, Nevada to Omega airport in Namibia to Eek, Alaska. IATA ...

“But as aviation quickly advanced, and more airports were established, two-letter codes sort of ran out of steam,” Hill says. To have more options, IATA required airports to have three letters instead ...

But by October the postal service, looking to preserve more character space for the new codes, published a revised list using a consistent two letters per state. It's been emended only once since: ...

Here’s a little airplane trivia for you: In the 1930s, airlines began using two-letter airport codes, according to the IATA, and they were often based on the National Weather Service’s ...

Cecil replies: If you feel overwhelmed by two-letter state abbreviations, wait’ll you hear about 13-letter city abbreviations. I pray you never have to use it, Richard, but yes, the United ...