Romancing a code by Tony Virgona
Last October 1st, 1988, US Air got its new airline designator code.
From "AL" it switched to "US". Simple enough you say, but in effect it took the Washington based carrier 18 months of hassling, lobbying and uncountable miles of travel to get its new code. The designator code is assigned by IATA and is a strong symbol of the host airline. It appears on the Official Airlines Guide (OAG), on airline tickets and on computer screens, timetables and brochures. US Air was coded prior to October 1988 as "AL" from its old name Allegheny Airlines and it wanted desperately to get the code "US" which belonged to the U.S. Air Force's Military Airlift Command.
After much negotiation and lobbying with the government they were given the green light, but on condition they wrangled code "MC" for Military Airlift Command. Yes, you've guessed it. Code "MC" was already in use. It belonged to a minor airline, called Transtar, formerly Muse Air.
US Air's roving negotiating team contacted Transtar Airlines and were able to get it to give up their "MC" code, but once again, on condition that the US Air team got Transtar the "TS" code. One quick look at the OAG showed that code "TS" belonged to an outfit in Western Africa called Transport Aerien du Benin, aka T.A.B., a one-aircraft outfit. US Air's negotiating mission by now nicknamed "Romancing the Code" was quickly on its way to Africa.
Before serious bargaining even got underway T.A.B. folded and the code "TS" was free. Armed with code "TS" the -"Romancers of the Code" rushed to Transtar only to find this airline in its final hour and before long "MC" also became available. The U.S. Air Force happily received the code "MC" for its military airlift command and "US" joined the flying community officially as US Air.
Tony Virgona
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