If you've done your share of flying, then you're probably familiar with the three-letter airport codes which identify every commercial airport in the world.

Airports like DFW, LGA, and HOU are pretty easy to figure out.

However, why is there an X in LAX?

And how did Washington Dallas wind up with IAD?

And what's the deal with almost every airport code in Canada?

Learn more about airport codes and the weird logic behind them

on this episode of sponsored by audible.com.

My audiobook recommendation today is Sky Gods,

The Fall of Pan Am by Robert Gant.

Sky Gods is the saga of America's most glamorous airline.

From its meteoric ascent to its plunge into extinction.

Pan Am blazed the way across the world's oceans with its magnificent clipper ships,

launched the first international jet service, was the first to fly the Behemoth 747,

was the lead customer for America's SST in the Concord,

and was even taking reservations for the first commercial flights to the moon.

You can get a free one month trial to audible and two free audio books

by going to audibletrial.com slash everything everywhere

or by clicking on the link in the show notes.

The history of airport codes dates back to before airplanes were even invented.

The United States National Weather Service was created

after the Civil War. They would take weather observations at military bases around

the country and would transmit the weather reports via telegraph to other bases.

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