Aviation Industry Glossary

A

Airline designator: Code designated by IATA to identify an airlines (eg. QF for Qantas Airways).
Airport code/designator: A three letter code used to identify an airport (eg. SYD for Sydney, JFK for New York John F Kennedy Airport).
ASK: Available Seat Kilometres: the measure of a flight’s passenger carrying capacity. Calculated by multiplying the number of seats on an aircraft by the distance travelled in kilometres. Used to measure an airline’s capacity to transport passengers.
ASM: Available seat mile: the measure of a flight’s passenger carrying capacity. Calculated by multiplying the number of seats on an aircraft by the distance travelled in miles. Used to measure an airline’s capacity to transport passengers.
ATC: Air Traffic Control.
Available Seat Kilometre: See ASK.
Available Seat Mile: See ASM.
Available Freight Tonne Kilometre: See AFTK.
Available Freight Tonne Mile: See AFTM.
AFTK: Available Freight Tonne Kilometres: the measure of a flight’s freight carrying capacity. Calculated by multiplying the number of tonne of freight on an aircraft by the distance travelled in kilometres. Used to measure an airline’s capacity to transport freight.
AFTM: Available Freight Tonne Miles: the measure of a flight’s freight carrying capacity. Calculated by multiplying the number of tonne of freight on an aircraft by the distance travelled in miles. Used to measure an airline’s capacity to transport freight.
Air Waybill (AWB or MAWB): The document made out by or on behalf of the shipper which, when used, evidences the contract between the shipper and carrier(s) forcarriage of goods over routes of the carrier(s).
AWB: See Air Waybill.
AACA: Arab Air Carriers Organisation .
AAPA: Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.
AASA: Airline Association of Southern Africa.
ABTA: Association of British Travel Agents.
ACAC: Arab Civil Aviation Commission.
ACAS: Airborne Collision-Avoidance System (ICAO).
ACC: Airport Consultative Committee (IATA).
ACI: Airports Council International.
ACI: Europe Airport Council International - Europe.
AEA: Association of European Airlines.
AFCAC: African Civil Aviation Commission.
AFRAA: African Airlines Association.
AFTN: Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network.
AGM: Annual General Meeting (IATA).
AITAL: International Association of Latin American Transport (Asociacion Internacional de Transporte Aereo Latinoamericano).
ALPA: Air Line Pilots Association.
ALTA: Association of Latin American Air Transport.
ANS: Air Navigation Services.
ANSP: Air Navigation Services Provider.
AOC: Air Operator’s Certificate.
API: Advance Passenger Information.
APIS: Advance Passenger Information Systems.
APU: Auxiliary Power Unit.
ARINC: Aeronautical Radio Inc (US).
ASA: Air Services Agreement.
ASD: Aeorospace and Defence Industries of Europe.
ASEAN: Association of South East Asian Nations.
ASECNA: Agence pour la Sécurité de la Navigation Aérienne en Afrique et à Madagascar.
ASO: Agency Services Office.
ASPA: Association of South Pacific Airlines.
ASTA: American Society of Travel Agents.
ATA: Air Transport Association of America.
ATAC: Air Transport Association of Canada.
ATAG: Air Transport Action Group.
ATB: Air Transport Association of America.
ATC: Air Traffic Control.
ATK: Available Tonne Kilometre.
ATM: Air Traffic Management.
ATN: Aeronautical Telecommunication Network.
ATNS: Air Traffic and Navigation Services.
ATS: Air Traffic Services.
ATS/DS: Air Traffic Services Direct Speech.
ATSP: Air Traffic Service Providers.
AUC: Air Transport Users Council.
AVNET: A joint ATA/API/IATA Project to develop EDI messages recommended for use for transactions between airlines and companies providing the supply or distribution of aviation fuel and related products and services.

B

Bumped: Airline jargon for a passenger being offloaded from a flight. Most commonly due to a flight being oversold, although ‘bumped’ can also mean being ‘upgraded’ or ‘downgraded’ where a seat in your booked class is not available.
BSP: Billing Settlement Plan. BSP is a system designed to facilitate and simplify the selling, reporting and remitting procedures of IATA Accredited Passenger Sales Agents, as well as improve financial control and cash flow for BSP Airlines.
Booking: The allotment in advance of space or weight capacity of goods.

C

Carrier: An industry term for ‘airline’.
CASM: Cost Per Available Seat Mile: used to compare costs between airlines with the lower the CASM, the lower the cost of transporting a passenger.
Cabotage: The right of an airline of one country/territory to carry domestic traffic within the territory of another carrier.
Consolidators: Third party distributors of airfares, usually to travel agents and travel product wholesalers. The fares are usually discounted compared to the ‘published’ fares set by airlines. Consolidators rarely sell direct to consumers.
City Pair: Term used for cities of departure and destination, eg Sydney to London.
Codeshare: Term used to describe an arrangement where one airline sells seats (the marketing carrier) on a flight operated by another airline (the operating carrier). Both airlines display their respective flight numbers. This is particularly common within airline alliances, such as Star Alliance. eg. Qantas operates QF1 but codeshares this flight with British Airways, who sell seats on the flight as BA7321.
Cargo (CGO): Also referred to as "goods", means any property carried or to be carried on an aircraft, other than mail or other property carried under terms of an international postal convention, baggage or property of the carrier; provided that baggage moving under an air waybill or a shipment record is cargo.
Carriage: Also referred to as "transportation", means carriage of cargo by air.
Customs: The Government Service which is responsible for the administration ofcustoms law and the collection of duties and taxes.
Customs Clearance: The accomplishment of the Customs formalities necessary to allow goods to enter the country/territory, to be exported or to be placed under another customers procedure.
Customs Clearance Agent: A customs broker or other agent of the consignee designated to perform customs clearance services for the consignee.
CGO: See Cargo.

D

Deregulation: Refers to the deregulation of airline markets and the removal of government controls on pricing and routes permitted to fly.
Dangerous Goods: Articles or substances which are capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety or to property when transported by air.
Description of Goods: Plain language description of the nature of the goods sufficient to identify them at the level required for banking, customs, statistical or transport purposes.
Destination: The ultimate stopping place according to the contract of carriage.

E

ETA: Estimated time of arrival.
EAG: European Action Group.
EASA: European Aviation Safety Agency.
EASO: European Aviation Suppliers Organisation.
EATCHIP: European ATC Harmonisation and Integration Programme.
EBAA: European Business Aviation Association.
ECA: European Cargo Alliance.
ECAC: European Civil Aviation Conference.
ECTAA: Group of National Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations within the EU.
EDI: Electronic Data Interchange.
ELFAA: European Low Fares Airline Association.
ERA: European Regions Airlines Association.
ESPAS: European Strategic Partnership for Aviation Security.
EU: European Union.
EUROCONTROL: European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation.

F

Flight Plan: Specific information related to the intended flight of an aircraft.
Fleet: The number of aircraft operated by an airline.
Flight number: A designator number assigned by an airline to a flight.
Airlines ‘Freedoms’: Rights granted to a commercial airline of a country/territory to enter and land in another country/territory. For example:

First Freedom: The right to fly over a foreign country/territory without landing there. eg. Sydney-Singapore flying over Indonesia.
Second Freedom: The right to refuel or carry out maintenance in a foreign country/territory en route to another country/territory. eg. London-New York with a refuelling stop in Ireland.
Third Freedom: The right to fly from one’s own country/territory to another. Eg Qantas carrying passengers from Sydney to London as an Australian airline.
Fourth Freedom: The right to fly from another country/territory to one’s own. Eg Qantas carrying passengers from London to Sydney as an Australian airline.
Fifth Freedom: The right to fly between two foreign countries or territories while the flight originates or ends on one’s own country/territory. eg. Northwest flying Sydney to Tokyo before flying to Los Angeles.
Sixth Freedom: The right to fly from a foreign country/territory to another while stopping in one's own country/territory for non-technical reasons. eg. Qantas operating an Auckland to Singapore flight via Sydney.
Seventh Freedom: The right to fly between two foreign countries while not offering flights to one's own country/territory. Eg an American airline offering flights between China and Japan but not to America.
Eighth Freedom: The right to fly between two or more airports in a foreign country/territory while continuing service to one's own country/territory.
Ninth Freedom: The right to do traffic within a foreign country/territory without continuing service to one's own country/territory. eg. An Irish airline operating services between Paris and Frankfurt.

Flight Sector/Segment: Non-stop operation of an aircraft between A and B with corresponding departure and arrival times.
FTK: Freight Tonne Kilometres. The equivalent of RPK for freight. One FTK is one metric tonne of revenue load, carried one kilometre. The sum of FTKs for every segment flown by every aircraft over a specific period is the FTK of an airline over that period.
Freight Tonne Kilometers: See FTK.
FLF: Freight Load Factor: the percentage (%) of AFTK used.
Freight Load Factor: See FLF.
FAA: Federal Aviation Administration.
FAB: Functional Airspace Blocks.
FAL: Facilitation.
FDR: Flight Data Recorder.
FIATA: International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association.
FIR: Flight Information Region.
FMS: Flight Management System.
FOQA: Flight Operations Quality Assurance.
FUAAV: Fedération Universelle des Associations d’Agences de Voyages.

G

Ground Handling Operator: Company that provides ground handling support services to airlines. These may include catering, cleaning, passenger check-in and ticketing and engineering support.
GSA: See General Sales Agent.
GABI: Global Aviation Business Intelligence.
General Sales Agent (GSA): An agent authorized in a country/territory to handle an airline's export sales/services.
GASAG: Global Aviation Security Action Group.
GATS: General Agreement on Trade in Services (under WTO).
GDS: Global Distribution System.
GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite Systems.
GPS: Global Positioning System.
GPWS: Ground Proximity Warning System.

H

Hub: A major airport used as a ‘base’ for an airline from where they fly to other destinations within their network. Also usually a base for flight crew, cabin crew and maintenance.
HF: High Frequency.

I

ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organisation. A UN specialised agency who are the global forum for civil aviation and works to achieve safe, secure and sustainable development of civil aviation through co-operation amongst member states.
IATA carrier: A carrier that is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Interline: Using multiple airlines to fly from A to B where the various airlines used have a formal ticketing and baggage transfer relationship. Eg A ticket for travel from Sydney to Beijing with Qantas and China Eastern Airlines via Shanghai. Qantas carries the passenger from Sydney to Shanghai and China Eastern Airlines carries the passenger from Shanghai to Beijing. The passenger’s luggage is checked in at the start of the journey with Qantas and is handled by the airlines until arrival in Beijing without the passenger having to re-claim the luggage.
IATA: International Air Transport Association.
International Civil Aviation Organisation: See ICAO.
IACA: International Air Carrier Association.
IAHA: International Aviation Handlers’ Association.
IAOPA: International Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations.
IAPA: International Airline Passengers Association.
ARO: International Air Rail Organisation.
IATAN: International Airlines Travel Agent Network (wholly owned subsidiary of IATA)
IATF: International Airline Training Fund.
ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organisation.
ICCS: IATA Currency Clearance Service.
ICH: IATA Clearing House.
IFALPA: International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations.
IFATCA: International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations.
IFSP: In-flight security personnel.
ILS: Instrument Landing System.
IOSA: IATA Operational Safety Audit.
SO: International Standards Organisation.
ISS: IATA Settlement Systems.
ITF: International Transport Workers Federation.
ITSS: IATA Travel Settlement Services.

J

Joint Services Agreement (JSA): The co-ordination of products and services between two airlines in a particular market. These include scheduling, marketing, sales, freight and customer service activities and usually require regulatory approval. Examples include Qantas and British Airways on the Sydney to London ‘Kangaroo route’, British Airways and American Airlines across the Atlantic and Delta Airlines and V Australia across the Pacific.
JSA: See Joint Services Agreement.

K

Kyoto Convention: International Convention on the simplification and harmonization of customs procedures.

L

Layover: A long, usually over-night, stop between flights usually involving a change of flight number and/or aircraft.
Load Factor: Load factor represents the proportion of airline output that is actually consumed. Load factor is usually calculated by dividing RPKs/RPMs by ASKs/ASMs.
Long Haul: A long distance international flight. Typically inter-continental and of at least six hours in duration.
LACAC: Latin American Civil Aviation Commission.

M

Montreal Convention: The Montreal Convention is a treaty adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). It amended the provisions of the Warsaw Convention’s regime concerning compensation for the victims of air disasters.
Minimum Connecting Time (MCT): the least amount of time an airline allows for a passenger connecting between flights at an airport. If a shorter period of time is used by the passenger it is referred to as an ‘illegal connection’ and the airline may not accept liability for a missed connection.
MCT: See Minimum Connecting Time.
Master Air Waybill (MAWB): The carrier's airbill issued to cover a consolidated shipment tendered by a forwarder or consolidator.

N

Nett Fare: Fares available for sale specifically by a distributor/s that are negotiated between the individual distributor and the airline.
Network: Airline term for destinations an airline flies to.
Non-endorsable ticket: A ticket issued by an airline that cannot be used to fly with another airline.

O

Overbooking: A practice adopted by airlines where more seats are confirmed on a flight than available on the aircraft. Based on the assumption that a variable percentage of confirmed passengers “no show” for the flight.
Offloaded: An airline term used to describe where a passenger has been removed from a flight just before departure. The most common reasons are flight over-booking or passengers being late for boarding.
Open Jaw: Term used to describe two segments on an airline ticket where a passenger flies into one airport and out of another.
Open Skies: Refers to a bilateral or multilateral agreement for air transport providers where government regulation of activity between parties is minimised, eg EU/US open skies agreement.

P

Published fare: A fare “published” by an airline and available for sale to everyone (as distinct from “nett” fares) either directly by the airline or a third party distributor (eg. travel agent).
PLF-Passenger Load Factor: See Load Factor.
PAAST: Pan-American Aviation Safety Team.
PATA: Pacific Asia Travel Association.
PNR: Passenger Name Record. An airline industry term for a passenger’s reservation file with an airline identified by a six figure alphabetical and numerical code.
PRM: Persons with Reduced Mobility.

R

Route: Consecutive links in a network served by single flight numbers, eg QF1 operates SYD/BKK/LHR as a single route.
Rerouting: The route to be followed as altered from that originally specified on the AWB.
RASM/RASK: Revenue per Available Seat Mile/Kilometre: Operating revenue measured on a unit basis, determined by dividing operating revenue by available seat miles/kilometres (ASM/ASK). Used as a like for like unit revenue comparison between airlines.
RNAV: Area Navigation.
RNP: Required Navigation Performance.
RTKM: Revenue Tonne Kilometre.
Revenue per Available Seat Mile: See RASM.

S

Spill: Passengers denied booking due to capacity restrictions.
Short Haul: A short flight usually domestic or regional on nature, typically lasting less that six hours in duration.
Segment: A clearly identifying part of a journey usually between two cities and involving one departure and one arrival. It is distinct from a ‘flight’, which may incorporate stop-overs even where only one flight number is used.

T

Transit: A period of time spent between flights.
Tariff: The published rates, charges and related rules of a carrier.
The Air Cargo Tariff (TACT): Rules, regulations and rates published for international air shipments.
TACT: See The Air Traffic Cargo Tariff.
Through Cargo: Cargo staying on board at a stopping place en-route for ongoing carrier on the same flight.
Transfer: Movement of cargo from one carrier to another against transfer manifest.
Transfer Cargo: Cargo arriving at a point by one carrier and continuing it's journeyThere from by another carrier.
Transfer Manifest (TRM): The document executed by the transferring carrier upon transfer of interline cargo and endorsed by the receiving carrier as a receipt for theconsignment transferred.
Transferring Carrier: The participating carrier transferring the consignment to another carrier at a transit point.
Trans Shipment: The unloading of cargo from one flight and loading onto another foronward carriage.
Transit: An enroute stopping place where cargo remains on board.
Transit Cargo: Cargo arriving at a point and departing by another flight.
TCAA: Transatlantic Common Aviation Area.
TCAS: Traffic Collision Avoidance System (US-FAA).
TIACA: International Air Cargo Association.
TSA: Transportation Security Administration.
TWIC: Transport Worker ID Card.
TRM: See Transfer Manifest.

U

ULD Control Receipt (UCR): A voucher of transfer ULD signed by transferring and receiving carriers which is used to retrieve ULD and for account settlement of ULD demurrage.
Unit Load Device (ULD): A container or pallet used to transport cargo on an aircraft.Valuable Cargo (VAL) Shipments of high value requiring advance arrangement and special handling.
ULD: See Unit Load Device.
UCR: See ULD Control Receipt.

V

VAT: Value-Added Tax

W

VHF: Very High Frequency.
WATS: World Air Transport Statistics.
WHO: World Health Organisation.
WTO: World Tourism Organisation.
WTO-OMC: World Trade Organisation (formerly GATT).
WTTC: World Travel and Tourism Council.

Y

Yield

Airline term for revenue per unit, eg revenue per mile per passenger.

Yield Management:

The management, by airlines, of revenue based on the assumption that:

There is a fixed amount of resource available for sale (eg the number of seats on a plane)
The resources are perishable and time limited after which they become valueless (eg airline seats unsold on a flight perish once the flight departs)
That the cost of the seat (the common resource) is variable depending on the terms of sale (eg airlines reduce the unit price on flights where there are many unsold seats and increase the unit price on flights where there are few available seats, thereby maximising the amount of average revenue generated per seat mile on a particular flight.