---
title: "Airport codes in United States"
description: "The 32 main airport codes in United States, what each one stands for, and which of them mean nothing like the city they serve."
url: https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/united-states/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Airport codes in United States

32 airports in United States, with the origin of each code rather than just its expansion.

| Code | Airport | City | Where the code comes from |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| JFK | John F. Kennedy International Airport | New York | The initials of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, assigned in 1963 when the airport was renamed for him. |
| LAX | Los Angeles International Airport | Los Angeles | LA plus a filler X, added when two-letter codes were extended to three in the 1930s. |
| ORD | O'Hare International Airport | Chicago | Orchard Place, the hamlet the airfield was built over, by way of its wartime name Orchard Field. The airport was renamed for Edward O'Hare in 1949; the code was not. |
| ATL | Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport | Atlanta | The first three letters of Atlanta. |
| MCO | Orlando International Airport | Orlando | McCoy Air Force Base, the Strategic Air Command base the civil airport was built alongside. |
| DFW | Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport | Dallas | Dallas Fort Worth. The airport sits between the two cities because neither would let the other have it. |
| EWR | Newark Liberty International Airport | Newark | The letters of nEWaRk. The obvious code, NEW, was unavailable because N was reserved. |
| SFO | San Francisco International Airport | San Francisco | San FranciscO — the first two letters plus the last. |
| LGA | LaGuardia Airport | New York | Fiorello La Guardia, the mayor who forced it into existence. |
| DEN | Denver International Airport | Denver | The first three letters of Denver, inherited from Stapleton when that airport closed. |
| MIA | Miami International Airport | Miami | The first three letters of Miami. |
| LAS | Harry Reid International Airport | Las Vegas | The first three letters of Las Vegas. |
| SEA | Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | Seattle | The first three letters of Seattle. |
| MSY | Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport | New Orleans | Moisant Stock Yards — the land was a stockyard, and before that the field where the aviator John Moisant died in 1910. |
| IAD | Washington Dulles International Airport | Washington | A deliberate scramble of DIA, which was too easily misread as DCA in handwriting. |
| DCA | Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport | Washington | District of Columbia Airport — although the runways are physically in Virginia. |
| BOS | Boston Logan International Airport | Boston | The first three letters of Boston. |
| IAH | George Bush Intercontinental Airport | Houston | Intercontinental Airport Houston, its name when the code was assigned. |
| BNA | Nashville International Airport | Nashville | Berry Field Nashville. The field was named for Harry Berry, who ran the works programme that built it. |
| PHX | Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport | Phoenix | PH for Phoenix, plus the filler X. |
| CLT | Charlotte Douglas International Airport | Charlotte | CharLoTte, using the consonants because CHA was already taken by Chattanooga. |
| CVG | Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport | Cincinnati | Covington, Kentucky — the nearest town to the site, and in a different state from the city the airport is named for. |
| PDX | Portland International Airport | Portland | PD for Portland, plus the same meaningless X that LAX and PHX carry. |
| MSP | Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport | Minneapolis | Minneapolis Saint Paul, the two cities it sits between. |
| DTW | Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport | Detroit | DeTroit Wayne, from Wayne County, where it sits. |
| HNL | Daniel K. Inouye International Airport | Honolulu | HoNoLulu, using the consonants. |
| BWI | Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport | Baltimore | Baltimore Washington International, adopted in 1973 when the airport rebranded to attract Washington traffic. |
| MCI | Kansas City International Airport | Kansas City | Mid-Continent International, the airport's name when the code was assigned in 1972. |
| SLC | Salt Lake City International Airport | Salt Lake City | Salt Lake City, initials. |
| SDF | Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport | Louisville | Standiford Field, the airport's name from 1947, after Elisha David Standiford. |
| ANC | Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport | Anchorage | The first three letters of Anchorage. |
| SNA | John Wayne Airport | Santa Ana | Santa Ana, the city it sits in, despite the airport being named for John Wayne. |

- [What airport is JFK?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/jfk/) — John F. Kennedy International Airport
- [What airport is LAX?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/lax/) — Los Angeles International Airport
- [What airport is ORD?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/ord/) — O'Hare International Airport
- [What airport is ATL?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/atl/) — Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- [What airport is MCO?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/mco/) — Orlando International Airport
- [What airport is DFW?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/dfw/) — Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
- [What airport is EWR?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/ewr/) — Newark Liberty International Airport
- [What airport is SFO?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/sfo/) — San Francisco International Airport
- [What airport is LGA?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/lga/) — LaGuardia Airport
- [What airport is DEN?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/den/) — Denver International Airport
- [What airport is MIA?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/mia/) — Miami International Airport
- [What airport is LAS?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/las/) — Harry Reid International Airport
- [What airport is SEA?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/sea/) — Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
- [What airport is MSY?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/msy/) — Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
- [What airport is IAD?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/iad/) — Washington Dulles International Airport
- [What airport is DCA?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/dca/) — Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
- [What airport is BOS?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/bos/) — Boston Logan International Airport
- [What airport is IAH?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/iah/) — George Bush Intercontinental Airport
- [What airport is BNA?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/bna/) — Nashville International Airport
- [What airport is PHX?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/phx/) — Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
- [What airport is CLT?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/clt/) — Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- [What airport is CVG?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/cvg/) — Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
- [What airport is PDX?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/pdx/) — Portland International Airport
- [What airport is MSP?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/msp/) — Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport
- [What airport is DTW?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/dtw/) — Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
- [What airport is HNL?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/hnl/) — Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
- [What airport is BWI?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/bwi/) — Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
- [What airport is MCI?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/mci/) — Kansas City International Airport
- [What airport is SLC?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/slc/) — Salt Lake City International Airport
- [What airport is SDF?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/sdf/) — Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport
- [What airport is ANC?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/anc/) — Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
- [What airport is SNA?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/sna/) — John Wayne Airport

## Related pages

- [United States](https://atoneplace.net/country/united-states/)
- [Airport codes in Canada](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/canada/)
- [Airport codes in United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/united-kingdom/)
- [Airport codes in India](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/india/)
- [Airport codes in China](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/china/)
- [Airport codes in Germany](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/germany/)
- [Airport codes in Japan](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/japan/)
- [Airport codes in Australia](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/australia/)
- [Airport codes in France](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/france/)
- [Airport codes in Italy](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/italy/)
- [Airport codes in Mexico](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/mexico/)