What's 'LUV' Got to Do With Flying?

Sept. 29, 2010 — -- Some readers will remember last week's column on crazy airport codes, in which I attempted to explain the logic behind weird ones like Chicago's O'Hare (ORD) and Sioux City, Iowa (SUX).

Stock market symbols can be just as odd.

Take Southwest Airlines. The "bags fly free" discounter was in the news this week, thanks to its proposed acquisition of AirTran -- and most of you are no doubt aware that on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE),Southwest trades as LUV. What do they mean by that? Well, it's a nod to Southwest's headquarters and home airport, Dallas' Love Field.

So why not the stock ticker symbol LOV? Well, a company called Spark Networks is already using LOV and it kind of makes sense, since Spark's "Website communities" are described as places where singles "connect." Ah, romance -- or, whatever.

Southwest, meanwhile, has made good use of LUV, lavishing it on promotional products like the "LUV hoodie" (just $29.99), not to mention the airline's signature heart-shaped swizzle sticks.

Any other stock symbol oddities? Oh, yes.

For more air travel news and insights visit Rick's blog at: http://farecompare.com

Midwest Airlines is another carrier that was stuck with an unusual stock symbol, MEH, which my online urban dictionary defines as "a verbal shrug of the shoulders." I don't know why the carrier's symbol wasn't CKY for its famously warm and delicious baked goods but that's another mystery. Whatever the case, MEH disappeared, when Midwest was taken over by Republic Airlines in 2009. Midwest survives as a brand name only and now that it's merged with Frontier, it'll disappear altogether next year.

The new Frontier, now trades as RJET for parent Republic.