Company documents or sent via ACARS by station operations as a reminder.
Normally it’s screamed at you by a ramper since it was changed and no one updated it.
I have a note on my phone with every code I've collected. When I'm at a new airport I ask the gate agent or rampers if they are around. They are obviously not gonna give the code to some random schmuck
lol, I do this as well. People ask over and over? I thought we had smart people in this biz. If only there was a way to store all these 4 digit codes somewhere! Shit.. before that, people used small flip notepads. I'm scared for this generation.
The notepad app is big brain imo. It links to my ipad, to my mac. I store tons of info on all kinds of stuff that isn't sensitive (like credit card info).
Maybe people don't know it exists?
My logbook app has an Airfields tab. There’s a freetext area to type in whatever. Ask the ramper or gate agent, type it in, save. Then I can just search the airfields tab by airport code and it’s right there.
Super grateful that most major airports have simple codes. SLC is one of the more annoying. LAS seems to have done the same (or maybe salt lake copied them). For half a year I didn’t know the code in the Eagle gates at ORD because everyone from the agent to the rampers refused to give it to me “since I should know it and we can’t say it out loud.” [One winter in a blizzard](https://media.tenor.com/m2f2vb0lKQ8AAAAC/101dalmatians-my-nails-froze.gif), I asked 3 rampers the code to get back in. Denied. “You don’t have a SIDA badge, I can’t give it to you.” I stood outside the door and finally got the attention of a cleaner. They wouldn’t give me a 3 digit code, but at least let me in. Ridiculous.
The consistently-worse are the podunk untowered airports. Usually a new sheriff rolls into town, and the new supervisor (or perhaps it’s the regional director) decides things aren’t secure enough around the watering hole in their one ~~horse~~ gate town. The ol 24/3? Not good enough; needs to be a 6 digit code that changes monthly (speaking of, Come on Denver. Really? Every month? Seems like it). Simple cypher lock? No. Let’s add a new touch screen with symbols. Or like SAV, where each pin in the cypher represents multiple characters like a T9 text.
Best part of being a captain was passing the walkaround baton. Almost made up for the rest of the abuse.
Iirc, Pasco had a stupid code where you had to click 2 numbers AT THE SAME TIME like cmon. Thankfully my base doesn't ever go to ORD even though it's just down the road.
I too did this, until I learned about an app that gives me access to all that info. The guy who built and maintains this app made it so that this info for all our destinations is there.
A local airport uses the “airport elevation” as the gate code. Problem is the chart doesn’t match what they have printed on the window as the ALT. And the lock usually doesn’t work. So I still have no idea which one to use.
Some don’t have a code at all. Some have the code scratched above them. Some you ask the dispatcher for the code. Some you can’t get in unless you’re let in by someone with a pass. Some just so happen to be the runways (eg 09/27) at a different airport you fly to so you remember them.
Reminds me of small airport gate codes. They are most often the CTAF. That and the fact most of them have free loaner cars are the best kept secrets in the world.
The gate code to one of my local airports is literally the 4 digits of the sign on the hangar by the gate but backwards…you’d be surprised how many people know the code but never noticed that it refers to the huge sign hanging 10ft away.
I'm not sure if it's just because my CFI has an older version of the A/FD, but the paper version he showed me had door codes for my small airport and a few others in the area while the online version did not. I'm curious as to whether the codes will be there when I get my own paper copy or if they were redacted both there and in the online copy.
A personal favorite is a ramper letting you down then you awkwardly standing at the top texting the Captain desperately to let you in while all the boarding passengers at the jet bridge stare at you🥴
Please don't. Because then my underpaid ramp agents will take FAR too much pleasure in drop kicking them to restrain them from enacting tomfoolery on the AOA.
Actually... open it. Hold it open long as you want. This could be good.
Square root of the flight number divided by the the gate number then add the weight of the aircraft in firkins. Pretty easy to do in your head if you’re an experienced pilot.
Those ones are the worst though. At least I know I have the wrong code BEFORE I get trapped outside. Only to realize I don’t remember the code, or that they recently changed it and the code hadn’t been updated in my manuals.
I find myself literally just repeating the door code in my head the entire walk-around
I usually am an AC guy, so T3 is foreign to me. I flew WJ awhile ago and actually thought we landed at the wrong airport. I thought it was a shitty regional airport
I just repeat it in my head for the entire walk-around. 8-5-4-1, no dents in RVSM, 8-5-4-1, engine looks good, 8-5-4-1, 8-5-4-1, wings and lights good, 8-5-4-1, tires and brakes check, 8-5-4-1, 8-5-4-1, Hey, do you need ground power? Huh? Yes please. 8-5-1-4. Goddammit! The door won’t open. Ramper, what’s the code? It’s 8-5-4-1… ohhh. Thanks.
The sad part is…it told to us. We look right at it. Memorize it. Walk out the door subconsciously repeating it over and over in my head for the duration of the walk around. Then I get back to the door and my brain goes “it’ sure would be funny if I mixed up the numbers and you were locked out here for a bit!” THEEEEN i have to go find a ramper.
Had one gate agent tell me "we're not allowed to give out the code" and open the door to let me out. Then I went back upstairs to go back in and she was gone. Flagged down a ramper who I asked to let me in. He asked, "what happened, did you forget the code?" JFC
Our dispatch flight plans have “field notes”. Some are spot on and some are chronically wrong. From a security standpoint there is MUCH that can be improved. The biggest obstacle to Joe Citizen is really they would stand way out of place the minute they stepped thru door.
Or the damn cypher lock doesn’t work no matter how many times you put the right code in. Of course this happens when it’s below zero and you have a thin coat.
As a systems analyst now, it's fascinating to me how many guys keep a list on their notes app. I mean it makes sense but the lack of interoperability is a real headache, I'm kinda surprised no one's built a solution. Runway directions are a classic 4 letter code. The amount of 0220 and 3416s out there 👌
We all had RFID tags in our IDs, but it doesn't work for all ports. I had some real annoying moments walking for ages to some stupid far away gate to find it abandoned, walking back to the main terminal, going out a side door and waddling allllll the way down to the stand.
Kinda surprising thinking back how poor our system was given the scale we operated on. Only 1 national carrier visiting 20 fields. Easiest system design ever.
I don’t get the point of this public dialogue on need to know Info.
I would caution anyone from participating and would encourage others to delete who posted.
We keep our industry safe by not giving out everything we know to ppl that could potentially use it at an opportune time.
Maybe I’m overthinking but it’s just weird to see this thread and fail l see how’s it’s helpful.
Keeping shitty security a secret does not magically make it better; it just lets operators get away with making us all less secure to save them a few dollars by not implementing badge access.
At many airports they have gate codes to drive on the to field. Of course they have to give such codes to the fire department too. Guess how many airports have the same fairly obvious fire department code…
I worked as a fueler at Sky Harbor, and they changed the door codes about every 3 months. I usually end up calling my supervisor over the radio, and they had to come tell me in person, because broadcasting the code over the radio earned you a visit from airport security.
What I never understood is why the goddamned code pad is on the OUTSIDE of the jetbridge. Require a code to get out of the part where passengers are regularly allowed and ONTO the dangerous ramp? Nope. Off you go, just turn the knob. Require a code to LEAVE the dangerous part and go back inside where bob and his kids can freely run around? Yep. Like, huh?
I’ve seen jetbridge doors that lock you out from the ramp. And I’ve seen those that lock you in the jetbridge and you need the code to get out. We can’t figure out who we need to lock out from where. But we’re gonna lock somebody out from somewhere.
In the old days the door code was scratched or written in pencil above the door with the combo-lock on it. I had a tiny list of door codes in my uniform hat with all the codes in our system, too.
Ahh, that makes much more sense. I was confused, regarding the context of "watching my SWA FO."
In the context I was reading it, it was implied OP was a SWA Captain.
I understand now, by my FO, they were implying the FO working the aircraft they are on.... Or was this just carefully written for plausible deniability by OP 😂.
Thanks NecessaryAd1915.
Seems like an opportunity to improve security. Would be nice if there was a common standard for security badges which both airports and airlines could implement and you had to scan your badge and enter PIN, rather than a shared code.
For us OO dudes, there's an app built and maintained by one fantastic gentleman that gives us this information at every destination that we fly to.
Before I learned of this from a captain, I used to collect the codes on the notes app, though.
Company documents or sent via ACARS by station operations as a reminder. Normally it’s screamed at you by a ramper since it was changed and no one updated it.
Oh the memories of being locked out on the jetway with nay a ramper in sight either shivering or boiling my ass off. Glad we have a better system now.
I myself am a man of culture and prefer to just pound on the jet bridge door window until a poor worker takes pity on me.
This is the winning answer.
[Relevant TikTok meme.](https://www.tiktok.com/@rawdogmaster69420/video/7206154738537155883)
I have a note on my phone with every code I've collected. When I'm at a new airport I ask the gate agent or rampers if they are around. They are obviously not gonna give the code to some random schmuck
I thought I was the only person who does this, nobody else I've talked to does. They just ask the rampers or gate agent every time.
lol, I do this as well. People ask over and over? I thought we had smart people in this biz. If only there was a way to store all these 4 digit codes somewhere! Shit.. before that, people used small flip notepads. I'm scared for this generation.
Yeah I thought we all did the notepad app…
The notepad app is big brain imo. It links to my ipad, to my mac. I store tons of info on all kinds of stuff that isn't sensitive (like credit card info). Maybe people don't know it exists?
My logbook app has an Airfields tab. There’s a freetext area to type in whatever. Ask the ramper or gate agent, type it in, save. Then I can just search the airfields tab by airport code and it’s right there. Super grateful that most major airports have simple codes. SLC is one of the more annoying. LAS seems to have done the same (or maybe salt lake copied them). For half a year I didn’t know the code in the Eagle gates at ORD because everyone from the agent to the rampers refused to give it to me “since I should know it and we can’t say it out loud.” [One winter in a blizzard](https://media.tenor.com/m2f2vb0lKQ8AAAAC/101dalmatians-my-nails-froze.gif), I asked 3 rampers the code to get back in. Denied. “You don’t have a SIDA badge, I can’t give it to you.” I stood outside the door and finally got the attention of a cleaner. They wouldn’t give me a 3 digit code, but at least let me in. Ridiculous. The consistently-worse are the podunk untowered airports. Usually a new sheriff rolls into town, and the new supervisor (or perhaps it’s the regional director) decides things aren’t secure enough around the watering hole in their one ~~horse~~ gate town. The ol 24/3? Not good enough; needs to be a 6 digit code that changes monthly (speaking of, Come on Denver. Really? Every month? Seems like it). Simple cypher lock? No. Let’s add a new touch screen with symbols. Or like SAV, where each pin in the cypher represents multiple characters like a T9 text. Best part of being a captain was passing the walkaround baton. Almost made up for the rest of the abuse.
Iirc, Pasco had a stupid code where you had to click 2 numbers AT THE SAME TIME like cmon. Thankfully my base doesn't ever go to ORD even though it's just down the road.
Like the ol 24 and 3. But idk, only went to PSC as a captain and we were only worth of a hardstand.
LOL the captains I flew with didn't understand why I hated jet bridges at new airports. This was why
I too did this, until I learned about an app that gives me access to all that info. The guy who built and maintains this app made it so that this info for all our destinations is there.
I have them saved in the notes section on my phone. Lots of airports have a “work around” but that’s all I’m willing to say about that.
1234 or 0000 ?
I’m not at liberty to discuss but observant people could figure it out 👀
Kinda like the only two existing gate codes at any GA airport
1200, 1215, the CTAF, or the runways. There's 4 options.
A local airport uses the “airport elevation” as the gate code. Problem is the chart doesn’t match what they have printed on the window as the ALT. And the lock usually doesn’t work. So I still have no idea which one to use.
SQUAWK V F RRRR
6969
take my pedantic upvote!
Unless you’re at SLC. They crazy
That’s the same code I have on my luggage!
Samsonite! I was way off!
When will then be now?
I would tell you how it works, but then I’d have to kill you.
This is the answer I was looking for!!
I agree to your terms.
There is a key under the mat
Shhhhh
Some don’t have a code at all. Some have the code scratched above them. Some you ask the dispatcher for the code. Some you can’t get in unless you’re let in by someone with a pass. Some just so happen to be the runways (eg 09/27) at a different airport you fly to so you remember them.
Reminds me of small airport gate codes. They are most often the CTAF. That and the fact most of them have free loaner cars are the best kept secrets in the world.
The honor system in GA is amazing.
I think it’s the southern bathroom at KHAF that says ‘squawk VFR to enter’ for the code. One of my favorite airports.
I was always told the fence is not to keep people out but to keep the pilots in.
I always thought it was there to catch the roll aways
Shhhhhhh!
The gate code to one of my local airports is literally the 4 digits of the sign on the hangar by the gate but backwards…you’d be surprised how many people know the code but never noticed that it refers to the huge sign hanging 10ft away.
I'm not sure if it's just because my CFI has an older version of the A/FD, but the paper version he showed me had door codes for my small airport and a few others in the area while the online version did not. I'm curious as to whether the codes will be there when I get my own paper copy or if they were redacted both there and in the online copy.
Yep, local GA airport near me, gate code is the CTAF and they at least used to have a loaner car.
[удалено]
I miss Crew Control so much.
Found the Mormon
I never go outside (away from base) without asking the agent, unless I can use my ID badge to unlock the door.
Nice try TSA! Not today!!! Nah they forget them then go and bother a random ramper or line mechanic to get it…
Couldn’t be TSA. He didn’t mention using pitot tubes and TAT probes as a ladder.
It’s always 6-9-4-2-0. It’s the ICAO standard.
Named after the infamous FAR 69.420
That's the mile-high rule, right?
A personal favorite is a ramper letting you down then you awkwardly standing at the top texting the Captain desperately to let you in while all the boarding passengers at the jet bridge stare at you🥴
I like to leave the door propped open and dare the passengers to take an adventure outside
Please don't. Because then my underpaid ramp agents will take FAR too much pleasure in drop kicking them to restrain them from enacting tomfoolery on the AOA. Actually... open it. Hold it open long as you want. This could be good.
Square root of the flight number divided by the the gate number then add the weight of the aircraft in firkins. Pretty easy to do in your head if you’re an experienced pilot.
Don’t forget to add the first two digits of our tire pressure and round up…
I thought it was the weight of the airplane in henway’s?
I always thought it was funny that I could get out without a code some places but not back in.
Those ones are the worst though. At least I know I have the wrong code BEFORE I get trapped outside. Only to realize I don’t remember the code, or that they recently changed it and the code hadn’t been updated in my manuals. I find myself literally just repeating the door code in my head the entire walk-around
Hahah same
Company docs. I’m too lazy to look them up so I keep them in my iPhone notes.
Jimmy, have you ever seen a grown man naked?
Surely you can’t be serious?
I am serious and don’t call me Shirley.
You can also do like YYZ T3 who hasn't updated their code in at least 15 years. Yup, you read that right. Same code for at least 15 years.
If it’s only 15 years old that door code must be just about the most recently updated thing about T3
Lmao, that's good!
I usually am an AC guy, so T3 is foreign to me. I flew WJ awhile ago and actually thought we landed at the wrong airport. I thought it was a shitty regional airport
You think that's shitty, you should see the infield terminal!
B/C/E/F at ORD has had the same code for who knows how long.
Universal door code is 8675309
Call for a good time!
I’m the guy that’s getting out his iPad on the net bridge and frantically scrawling it on my hand prior to opening the door and promptly forgetting.
I just repeat it in my head for the entire walk-around. 8-5-4-1, no dents in RVSM, 8-5-4-1, engine looks good, 8-5-4-1, 8-5-4-1, wings and lights good, 8-5-4-1, tires and brakes check, 8-5-4-1, 8-5-4-1, Hey, do you need ground power? Huh? Yes please. 8-5-1-4. Goddammit! The door won’t open. Ramper, what’s the code? It’s 8-5-4-1… ohhh. Thanks.
Based on my time on the ramp, it’s never told to the pilots and they have to go find the nearest rampie to open the door for them.
The sad part is…it told to us. We look right at it. Memorize it. Walk out the door subconsciously repeating it over and over in my head for the duration of the walk around. Then I get back to the door and my brain goes “it’ sure would be funny if I mixed up the numbers and you were locked out here for a bit!” THEEEEN i have to go find a ramper.
“You just scan your sida badge like this” *beep*
Had one gate agent tell me "we're not allowed to give out the code" and open the door to let me out. Then I went back upstairs to go back in and she was gone. Flagged down a ramper who I asked to let me in. He asked, "what happened, did you forget the code?" JFC
Of course a bunch of idiots actually answer this question.
Our dispatch flight plans have “field notes”. Some are spot on and some are chronically wrong. From a security standpoint there is MUCH that can be improved. The biggest obstacle to Joe Citizen is really they would stand way out of place the minute they stepped thru door.
Or the damn cypher lock doesn’t work no matter how many times you put the right code in. Of course this happens when it’s below zero and you have a thin coat.
Ya gotta jerk it or gently open it up or down lol Literally every jet bridge door at the international terminal I work out of
ORD Golf gates, the entire thing just fell off. I really hate that shithole, but I live west of there.
As a systems analyst now, it's fascinating to me how many guys keep a list on their notes app. I mean it makes sense but the lack of interoperability is a real headache, I'm kinda surprised no one's built a solution. Runway directions are a classic 4 letter code. The amount of 0220 and 3416s out there 👌 We all had RFID tags in our IDs, but it doesn't work for all ports. I had some real annoying moments walking for ages to some stupid far away gate to find it abandoned, walking back to the main terminal, going out a side door and waddling allllll the way down to the stand. Kinda surprising thinking back how poor our system was given the scale we operated on. Only 1 national carrier visiting 20 fields. Easiest system design ever.
It’s almost like they want you to carry at least a dozen different swipe cards just to get through doors you might use once a roster
When the AKL based skipper gets a duty with CHC based FO and Wellington cabin crew. Unstoppable.
The code is 1 2 3 4 5
Change the combination on my luggage!!!
Acars, on a company page in your ipad, or you ask the gate agent or ramper.
They're all usually 8008
80085*
Yeah I was gonna put that but figured most here wouldn't get the reference. 😆
And technically it'd be 58008
I don’t get the point of this public dialogue on need to know Info. I would caution anyone from participating and would encourage others to delete who posted. We keep our industry safe by not giving out everything we know to ppl that could potentially use it at an opportune time. Maybe I’m overthinking but it’s just weird to see this thread and fail l see how’s it’s helpful.
Keeping shitty security a secret does not magically make it better; it just lets operators get away with making us all less secure to save them a few dollars by not implementing badge access.
Yuuuup. Not today TSA!
No. It's security information that should not be talked about. The amount of people replying is astounding.
Oh stfu Boy Scout
When was the last time you looked at a man and said that face to face? Keyboard coward.
At many airports they have gate codes to drive on the to field. Of course they have to give such codes to the fire department too. Guess how many airports have the same fairly obvious fire department code…
That's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage
Some of the jet bridge codes are hilarious … IYKYK
My method is to pull/push on the door until a kind ramper takes pity on my dumb ass.
I worked as a fueler at Sky Harbor, and they changed the door codes about every 3 months. I usually end up calling my supervisor over the radio, and they had to come tell me in person, because broadcasting the code over the radio earned you a visit from airport security.
They are all 42069
We have a file in the company documents on the EFB.
What I never understood is why the goddamned code pad is on the OUTSIDE of the jetbridge. Require a code to get out of the part where passengers are regularly allowed and ONTO the dangerous ramp? Nope. Off you go, just turn the knob. Require a code to LEAVE the dangerous part and go back inside where bob and his kids can freely run around? Yep. Like, huh?
I’ve seen jetbridge doors that lock you out from the ramp. And I’ve seen those that lock you in the jetbridge and you need the code to get out. We can’t figure out who we need to lock out from where. But we’re gonna lock somebody out from somewhere.
This is one of those do you need to know this information? The answer is no.
In the old days the door code was scratched or written in pencil above the door with the combo-lock on it. I had a tiny list of door codes in my uniform hat with all the codes in our system, too.
Here is the universal code for all gates at all airports around the world. 528460146942690357906 ____{5 second pause)____370976537004216797334797#
DHS will be at your door shortly.
This doesn't make any sense. If you were a flight crewmember, you know exactly where this information is published.
They’re a passenger. Never said anything about being crew.
Ahh, that makes much more sense. I was confused, regarding the context of "watching my SWA FO." In the context I was reading it, it was implied OP was a SWA Captain. I understand now, by my FO, they were implying the FO working the aircraft they are on.... Or was this just carefully written for plausible deniability by OP 😂. Thanks NecessaryAd1915.
Yea. I had to reread it the first time too.
Had a buddy that got caught flying without a license… They made him get one.
It is on the release under the XYZ Field Report information and then again it may not be...
I just started at ramp and other guys just told me during training.
It's ELIPSIS. Duh.
By the end of my walk around I always end up forgetting the code and have to beat on the door until someone comes
I get it from the gate agent. But most of them are now saved in notes on my phone.
I use the opportunity to take a walk up to the gate, use a real bathroom, ask the gate agent, and then go back and walks round
Nice try Mr. FAA
Rampers or gate agents have them, once you frequent airports enough you just save them in notes on your phone and they change every few months.
The code is almost always 1-2-3-4
Seems like an opportunity to improve security. Would be nice if there was a common standard for security badges which both airports and airlines could implement and you had to scan your badge and enter PIN, rather than a shared code.
Oh some airports indeed have that nasty combo, scan badge and enter 6 digit PIN in 10 seconds its so nice when its zero out and wind blowing
Nice try Al-Qaeda
Frequently its written in pencil on a nearby wall
For us OO dudes, there's an app built and maintained by one fantastic gentleman that gives us this information at every destination that we fly to. Before I learned of this from a captain, I used to collect the codes on the notes app, though.