ORLANDO, Fla. – What’s your nickname for Orlando International Airport?
Some people say OIA. Some people say MCO, the airport’s official code.
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But the airport wants to make sure you know — it’s MCO.
The airport even took to social media about it.
We are not "OIA" - our 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 is ✨MCO!✨ pic.twitter.com/UcYb7H0Vbr
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) October 10, 2023
The airport’s MCO designation is rooted in its military past.
Orlando International Airport was originally a military base dating as far back as the 1940s when it was Pinecastle Army Airfield. In 1958, it was renamed McCoy Air Force Base after Col. Michael McCoy, who was killed during a bombing competition. McCoy had commanded a fleet of B-47s at the Air Force base and was a hugely population figure.
The airport was designated MCO after the base name, and even though the military base closed in 1975, those letters haven’t changed. The airport became Orlando International in 1976.
If you ask people around Orlando though, the preference is divided, and if you Google “OIA,” the airport is the first thing to pop up, followed by Oia, a village in Greece, and the Outdoor Industry Association.
DYK: Col. Michael McCoy commanded a fleet of nearly 50 B-47s at Pinecastle Air Force Base, the same land that MCO stands on today. After his death in 1957, the AFB was renamed after him & our airport kept the code MCO, in his honor. ✈️ #CelebrateYourNameWeek pic.twitter.com/ZzZ9b7fFzP
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) March 6, 2023
“OIA is a popular name,” said former airport spokesperson Carolyn Fennell. “But there is already an airport that has that name in Brazil.”
Airport codes are designated by the International Air Transport Association, a trade group for the air travel industry that governs a number of airport policies. These location identifier codes are supposed to make communication easier for pilots, air traffic controllers and other parts of the travel industry.
Each three-letter designation is unique to the airport for convenience reasons.
In the case of “OIA,” it already stands for Ourilândia do Norte Airport – an airport in Brazil that is now closed.
“There are nearly 9,000 airport codes and to make a change would require a lot of coordination,” Fennell said.
Fennell said the airport has made MCO part of its marketing to get people to think of the airport by those letters.
So do you call the airport OIA or MCO?
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