Oceanic Airlines is a fictional airline used on television and in movies, not to be confused
with real airlines Trans Oceanic Airlines and Ocean Airlines.
Producers of the 1996 movie Executive Decision filmed extensive exterior aerial footage using
an actual Boeing 747 painted with the fictional airline's livery. The footage has been reused in a large number of films and
television shows.
The 2004 ABC TV series Lost also features Oceanic Airlines, but does not feature recycled
stock footage from Executive Decision, and uses its own Oceanic Airlines logo.
The portrayal of Oceanic Airlines as being disaster-prone has become something of an inside
joke among television and movie fans: for example, popular TV review site Television Without Pity sold a set of limited edition
shirts and messenger bags branded with an Oceanic Airlines logo and the slogan "Getting halfway there is all the fun!" The
Oceanic slogan from Lost seems especially apt for the danger-prone airline: "Taking You Places You've Never Imagined!", as
does its logo: a highly stylized Australian dot painting resembling a bulls-eye or an island.
Media featuring Oceanic Airlines
Original
Code 11-14: an FBI agent searches for a killer aboard an Oceanic Airlines flight bound for
Los Angeles
from Sydney.
Executive Decision: Oceanic Flight 343 from Athens to
Washington, DC was hijacked by terrorists.
Lost: The show revolves around the aftermath of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 from Sydney to Los Angeles. The producers of Lost also created a website for the fictional airline, including
clues and references to the show's mystery.
Alias: Oceanic's flight to Sydney is briefly mentioned in an announcement
at LAX, when the show's main character Sydney Bristow is there. This may indicate a shared continuity between Lost and Alias
(both created by J.J. Abrams).
LAX (TV series): Advertisements and computers in terminals in LAX feature the Oceanic Airlines
name in the episode Senator's Daughter.
Reused Footage
Stock footage from Executive Decision was also reused in the following:
After the Sunset: According to the trailer.
Category 6: Day of Destruction
Diagnosis Murder: The Boeing 747 used with the route from LAX to Switzerland in the episode "Murder in The Air".
JAG: Uses stock footage featuring Oceanic Flight 343 in the episodes "Vanished" and "The Bridge
at Kang So Ri".
Nowhere to Land: Oceanic Flight 762, also from Sydney to
Los Angeles. Nerve gas onboard.
Panic in the Skies: Footage was used from the film Executive Decision except with 'Royce Air
International' logos instead of the original ones.
The War at Home: Footage was used from the film Executive Decision , in the episode called
"the west palm beach story"
Other
Ctrl+Alt+Del: Ethan attempts to buy a ticket from Oceanic in the comic dated March 6, 2006.
Trivia
The name may be derived from the White Star Line (the operating company of the RMS Titanic
and several other disaster prone vessels), otherwise known as the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company.
As depicted on Lost, Oceanic Airlines was apparently established in 1980, the same year as
the instruction movie for the DHARMA Initiative is copyrighted. However, the producers have denied any connection between
DHARMA and Oceanic.
A telephone number for Oceanic Air is available in the UK, presumably set up by Lost's UK distributor Channel 4, on 0871 200 3904. Pressing 0, after hearing the opening
message "Welcome to Oceanic Air", on getting through plays an audio clip of the original broadcast from Rousseau that was
heard by the survivors. The number is hidden in Channel 4's Lost website in the flash animation. Network Site.