The maddening mess of airport codes [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#21

Post by doctor_eval » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 3:53 AM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #7

woodruffw wrote: post #2

The entire world of airline coding (as in "encoding") is fascinating to me: there are all kinds of ancient semi-human-readable formats like ACARS[1] and IATA Teletype[2] that are still pushing data around. Not the mention standard meal codes[3], like BLML for "bland meal" and CLML for "celebration cake meal." [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACARS [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_teletype_system [3]: http…

#3 has RFML - Refugee Meal. I wonder what that is.

It’s a euphemism for Soylent Green.

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#22

Post by javawizard » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 3:53 AM UTC

macintux wrote: post #11

cyphar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funnily enough, CGP Grey also made a video about that[1]. [1]: https://youtu.be/jfOUVYQnuhw

That’s the same video as the post, unless I’m missing something.

You're not. GP, did you mean to link to a different video?

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#23

Post by SoftTalker » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 3:54 AM UTC

woodruffw wrote: post #2

The entire world of airline coding (as in "encoding") is fascinating to me: there are all kinds of ancient semi-human-readable formats like ACARS[1] and IATA Teletype[2] that are still pushing data around. Not the mention standard meal codes[3], like BLML for "bland meal" and CLML for "celebration cake meal." [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACARS [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_teletype_system [3]: http…

I've also wondered why cryptically abbrevated things like NOTAMS are still the way they are. It made sense in a teletype/telegraph world where brevity was worth time and money.

From wikipedia, this is a typical NOTAM:

  A1234/06 NOTAMR A1212/06
  Q)EGTT/QMXLC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/5129N00028W005
  A)EGLL
  B)0609050500
  C)0704300500
  E)DUE WIP TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'. TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B' AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN CL AND BLUE EDGE LGT. CTN ADZ

Likewise METARs (weather reports):

  METAR KTTN 051853Z 04011KT 1/2SM VCTS SN FZFG BKN003 OVC010 M02/M02 A3006 RMK AO2 TSB40 SLP176 P0002 T10171017=

Pilots have to know how to read and understand this stuff. Only justification I can think of is that like mathematical notation, this shorthand, once learned, is unambiguous and conveys meaning better than prose. I don't know if that's really true though.

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#24

Post by joelrunyon » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 3:56 AM UTC

mathieuh wrote: post #20

joelrunyon wrote: post #19

If you travel and liked wordle - you should try http://airportle.com So much harder. Maddening.

That site doesn’t support https btw, you need to delete the `s` in the scheme to get it to load.

edited

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#25

Post by chrisbolt » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 3:57 AM UTC

There's also https://airportcod.es/ which shows more detail behind each airport's code.

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#26

Post by iHateStylo » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 4:02 AM UTC

slg wrote: post #9

This reminds me of a great stand-up bit about the process of coming up with the 2 letter abbreviations for the 50 states[1]. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLECCmKnrys

How Dotty of you

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#27

Post by spoils19 » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 4:03 AM UTC

javawizard wrote: post #22

macintux wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s the same video as the post, unless I’m missing something.

You're not. GP, did you mean to link to a different video?

I think they meant to link to this one: https://youtu.be/jfOUVYQnuhw

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#28

Post by acwan93 » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 4:12 AM UTC

woodruffw wrote: post #2

The entire world of airline coding (as in "encoding") is fascinating to me: there are all kinds of ancient semi-human-readable formats like ACARS[1] and IATA Teletype[2] that are still pushing data around. Not the mention standard meal codes[3], like BLML for "bland meal" and CLML for "celebration cake meal." [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACARS [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_teletype_system [3]: http…

Cryptic codes and abbreviations are surprisingly prevalent in more places than you'd expect. Anyone working with EDI documents in medical or retailers has first hand knowledge.

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#29

Post by 2143 » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 4:14 AM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #23

woodruffw wrote: post #2

The entire world of airline coding (as in "encoding") is fascinating to me: there are all kinds of ancient semi-human-readable formats like ACARS[1] and IATA Teletype[2] that are still pushing data around. Not the mention standard meal codes[3], like BLML for "bland meal" and CLML for "celebration cake meal." [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACARS [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_teletype_system [3]: http…

I've also wondered why cryptically abbrevated things like NOTAMS are still the way they are. It made sense in a teletype/telegraph world where brevity was worth time and money. From wikipedia, this is a typical NOTAM: A1234/06 NOTAMR A1212/06 Q)EGTT/QMXLC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/5129N00028W005 A)EGLL B)0609050500 C)0704300500 E)DUE WIP TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'. TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B' AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN…

> Pilots have to know how to read and understand this stuff. Only justification I can think of is that like mathematical notation, this shorthand, once learned, is unambiguous and conveys meaning better than prose. I don't know if that's really true though.

You're correct. It's straightforward for pilots. They can quickly read a NOTAM and understand everything.

Also, it's pretty standard and unambiguous worldwide.

As for the specific example you provided, today is your lucky day! That exact example has been decoded on Wikipedia here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/METAR#North_American_METAR_c...

Re: The maddening mess of airport codes [video]

#30

Post by woodruffw » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 4:22 AM UTC

acwan93 wrote: post #28

woodruffw wrote: post #2

The entire world of airline coding (as in "encoding") is fascinating to me: there are all kinds of ancient semi-human-readable formats like ACARS[1] and IATA Teletype[2] that are still pushing data around. Not the mention standard meal codes[3], like BLML for "bland meal" and CLML for "celebration cake meal." [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACARS [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_teletype_system [3]: http…

Cryptic codes and abbreviations are surprisingly prevalent in more places than you'd expect. Anyone working with EDI documents in medical or retailers has first hand knowledge.

Certainly. Air transportation just holds particular interest for me, given that the codes and abbreviations reflect historical physical constraints: so-and-so many columns, so-and-so many inches of printable space on a ticket, etc.

(This is also why I find US banking standards interesting[1].)

[1]: https://blog.yossarian.net/2019/12/25/A-shallow-dive-into-th...