Southwest Airport codes and helpful tips to remember
BHM
Birmingham, AL
MDW
Chicago Midway, Illinois
CVG
Cincinnati, OH (named after its nearby city CoVinGton)
RSW
Ft. Myers, FL (Renamed "International" in 1993, Fort Myers' airport was originally regional only. It takes its airport code from Regional SouthWest.)
GCM
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
GSP
Greenville/Spartanburg, SC
HRL
Harlingen, TX
HAV
Havana, Cuba
JAX
Jacksonville, FL (Commonly used abbreviation used among Jacksonville residents)
ISP
Long Island, NY (Long Island Airport got its start in the 1940s and is named after U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur. Its airport code comes from its original name of ISliP Airport.
SDF
Louisville, KY (Before being renamed in 1995, Louisville International was known as StanDiFord Field, honoring former state senator Elisha David Standiford.)
MAF
Midland/Odessa, TX (Midland International is located between the cities of Midland and Odessa. Its airport code comes from its time as a training base during World War II, named Midland Army AirField.)
MSP
Minneapolis/ St. Paul, MN
MBJ
Montego Bay, Jamaica
SJD
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Los Cabos International is most known for serving the resort city of Cabo San Lucas, but gets its airport code from its home in the city of San José Del Cabo.)
PBI
west Palm Beach, FL
SNA
Orange County, CA
SNA
Orange County, CA In 1979, Orange County Airport was renamed to honor John Wayne, legendary actor and resident of nearby Newport Beach. Its airport code honors its home in the city of SaNta Ana
ECP
Panama City Beach, FL (when going through a list of available codes, the selection group joked ECP could stand for Everyone Can Party, and it stuck)
PIT
Pittsburgh, PA
PWM
Portland, ME (The airport serving the original Portland (in Maine) started as small Stroudwater Field, later renamed to Portland-Westbrook Municipal Airport.)
PDX
Portland, OR (Before the 1930's, airports had two-letter codes. When codes switched to three letters, many added the letter 'X' to the end. PD (PortlanD) became PDX.)
PVR
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
PUJ
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
RDU
Raleigh, NC
SMF
Sacramento, CA (When Sacramento International was built, the airport code SAC was already taken by (then named) Sacramento Municipal Airport. So it took its code from its original name, Sacramento Metropolitan Field.)
SJO
San Juan, Costa Rica
SJU
San Juan, Puerto Rico
GEG
Spokane, WA ( Before being renamed in 1969 Spokane international was known as GEiGer field, honoring US veteran Major Harold Geiger)
TPA
TamPA, FL
PLS
Turks and Caicos Islands, PRovidence
IAD
Washington, VA ( Dulles International Airport's three-letter code was once DIA. When hand-written, it was often misread as DCA, another Washington airport. It was reversed to IAD to avoid confusion.)
