Now Boarding US Airways Flight 743 to Filadelfia…yup Filadelfia
Web: www.thetravelstrategist.com — E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com
7/11/2009 – Now Boarding US Airways Flight 743 to Filadelfia…yup Filadelfia
Every once in a while someone will send me a photo that causes me to crack up, well a week ago one of these photos found its way into my e-mail box.
Every traveller seems to enjoy odd moments, unusual signs and the ever popular past time of finding mistakes airlines have made. Well the photo that landed in showing US Airways Flight 743 boarding for “Filadelfia” not only had me laughing, but also wondering where the photo had been shot.
So, after a week of research…going through every flight numbered as US743 in the past few weeks to match up a 12:00pm departure from Gate E74…I found a match! This photo was shot at Aeroport de Barcelona (BCN) and apparently this spelling of Philadelphia (PHL) is common for flights departing BCN due to the Spanish spelling of the city.
None-the-less, this photo made me chuckle for a number of reasons…do flight departing for JFK International Airport show “Nueva York”?
Happy Flying!
Great Picture! That is hilarious… thanks!
It’s a pronunciation thing. In Spain you and I are “fotografos.” No big deal.
“Filadelfia” (which by the way in Spanish, Polish, etc. pronounces exactly like the word “Philadelphia”) is just the Spanish (Polish, etc.) name of that city.
The flights departing from the US to Warszawa (WAW) or München (MUC) display “Warsaw” and “Munich” respectively, using their English names.
Geez, one would think that such things would amuse only eight-year olds, not a grown up, seasoned world traveler…
BadBatz,
Chill out! You must be wound so tight if you can’t enjoy a little bit of humour once in a while….why don’t you stop and smell the roses and enjoy a little laughter in your life. People around you might like you better. (I also hightly suggest you don’t join Twitter…we eat stick-in-the-muds like you for lunch.)
Fish – Thanks for making my morning! As a German speaker, I can totally relate to the misunderstanding to the average viewer, and wish that some people could get a better sense of humor. -@brajit
You should note that flights from Barcellona to London read as “London” not “Londres” and flights to New York are displayed as “New York” not “Nueva York.” When flying from Paris to Brussels the board at Paris/CDG displays “Brussels” not “Bruxelles.”
…and why did I get a chuckle initially? Because when the photo was orginally sent to me , it was indicated that the photo was shot at a US airport. If the photo was shot at a US airport it would mean someone would have gone into the display system and really messed up when posting the flight. Since I figured the photo probably was shot in the US I started to search and cross refernce US Airways Flights numbered “743” that depart at 12:00noon from Gate E74.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
This is hilarious…I’m based in NY LGA and a pax flying to Madrid spelt it out for me the same way.
I haven’t been to BCN airport itself, but right now the official airport site in *English* shows “Forthcoming Arrivals: Flight DL094 Schd.time 7:45 Origin NUEVA YORK-J.F.KENNEDY”. I find it interesting that the city name is in Spanish rather than Catalan.
I also found this entry a bit below your normal quality, Steven. Once you discovered it was a flight from BCN you should have moved on to something else. Heck, we can all cite examples. For UA’s flight from Washington to Geneva, Switzerland, does the gate sign read “Geneve” (what the Swiss call their city) or “Geneva” (the English equivalent)? It’s the later, I suspect, but according to your posting this is somehow wrong. I think having the gate information display in the local language is more appropriate than the reverse.
It’s ok. We all have off days. Keep on writing, Steven, and I’ll keep on reading.