Aviation Terminology

Aviation Terminology

The aviation industry, like many others, has a secret language all of its own. Unlike most it is more than just jargon; it is a truly international language which enables a message sent from, let’s say, Lagos in Nigeria to be understood by its recipient in, for example, Osaka in Japan, even though neither side may be familiar with the other’s normal language. Much of this is laid down by bodies such as IATA (the International Air Transport Association) and although the basis of this international language is English it is far from being just a simple adaptation of a few key words. The standardisation of language was one of the most significant steps towards making aviation a truly global business in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Some of the standard terms

covered in this pack include:

• The 24-hour clock

• Day and month codes

• Phonetics

• 3-letter codes

• Aviation terms

• Airimp

• Regulatory bodies

The information in this section will give you the basics that you need to know to work in an airport, however when you get to your Department, there will be more terms and jargon to get used to. As with any language it cannot all be learnt in a day, but you will get used to it very quickly.

“THE AIRPORT RUNWAY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MAINSTREET IN ANY TOWN.” - NORM CRABTREE

Aviation Terminology

The 24-hour Clock

When we use the 24-hour clock, the time is always expressed in four figures. If a time sequence does not have four figures, we add zeros in front of the time until we do have four figures, so 1:23 am will become 0123 and 9:15 am will become 0915.

As you will see, when you write out times using the 24hour clock, you don’t put anything between the hours and the minutes, and you don’t put am or pm at the end.

Hours after noon are referred to in an increasing numerical sequence rather than starting again, as we do when we use 12-hour time. For example, one o’clock in the afternoon becomes the thirteenth hour (written 1300 and pronounced “thirteen hundred”).

Three o’clock in the afternoon becomes the fifteenth hour (written 1500, pronounced “fifteen hundred”) and 9:15pm becomes the twenty first hour of the day plus 15 minutes (2115, pronounced “twenty one fifteen”) there is also no such time as midnight in the airline industry: a flight will never be scheduled to depart at midnight. 2400 or 0000 are not used in written communications or for ticketing purposes. Instead, the last minute of the day is written as 2359 (11.59pm) and the first minute of the next day is written as 0001 (12.01am).

Local vs. Zulu Time

As a rule, the majority of our reference material such as daily flight schedules (mayfly) and the company flight information screens are always in Greenwich Mean Time or “ZULU” time. All passenger information and flight information screens are shown in local time.

DID YOU KNOW…? THE 24HR CLOCK WAS DEVELOPED TO AVOID MISUNDERSTANDINGS AS A RESULT OF ‘AM’ AND ‘PM’.

Aviation Terminology

“AS THINGS ARE, FLYING IS TOO EXPENSIVE A MODE OF TRANSPORT TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE ORDINARY MAN OR WOMAN. TO THE GREAT MAJORITY WITH MEANS, THE DEAFENING ROAR OF THE ENGINES, THE SENSE OF DANGER, THE GREAT UNCERTAINTY, ADDED TO THE NOT INCONSIDERABLE FARE, MORE THAN BALANCE THE POSSIBLE GAIN IN TIME.” — NEON, 'THE FUTURE OF AERIAL TRANSPORT', THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY MAGAZINE, JANUARY 1928.

Day & Month Codes

DAY CODES

You probably already use general day codes in your daily life,

however there are other day codes that you may not be familiar with. Within the airline industry certain systems or information booklets i.e. timetables hold so much information that it would not be possible to put full day or month names in, so they have been standardised and abbreviated.

While working in an airport, you may come across all of the following for Day Codes:

MON

MO

1

TUE

TU

2

WED

WE

3

THU

TH

4

FRI

FR

5

SAT

SA

6

SUN

SU

7

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

As you may expect, there are similar codes for months.

January

February

March

April

May

June

JAN

1

FEB

2

MAR

3

APR

4

MAY

5

JUN

6

July

August

September

October

November

December

JUL

7

AUG 8

SEP

9

OCT 10

NOV 11

DEC

12

Whenever you are writing dates, the standard format that you should use is DDMMYY.

This means that the 1st of January 2004 would be written as 01JAN04.

“ONCE YOU GET HOOKED ON THE AIRLINE BUSINESS, IT'S WORSE THAN DOPE.” — ED ACKER, WHILE CHAIRMAN OF AIR FLORIDA

Aviation Terminology

TIP

ONE OF THE SIMPLEST WAYS TO LEARN THE PHONETIC ALPHABET IS TO PRACTICE USING IT TO SPELL WORDS, NAMES OR EVEN THE LETTERS OF THE NUMBER PLATE ON THE CAR AHEAD OF YOU AS YOU DRIVE HOME.

The Phonetic Alphabet

When you are using radios, the telephone or even talking faceto-face, sometimes words or spellings can be mis-heard.

To overcome the risk of confusion, there is a standard ‘alphabet’ in use throughout the aviation world where each letter is represented by a word.

Alpha

Bravo

Charlie

Delta

Echo

Foxtrot

Golf

Hotel

India

Juliet

Kilo

Lima

Mike

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

November

Oscar

Papa

Quebec

Romeo

Sierra

Tango

Uniform

Victor

Whiskey

X-ray

Yankee

Zulu

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

You must make yourself familiar with the phonetic alphabet as not only will you have to use it, but other people will expect you to understand it when they use it.

Aviation Terminology

“A RECESSION IS WHEN YOU HAVE TO TIGHTEN YOUR BELT; DEPRESSION IS WHEN YOU HAVE NO BELT TO TIGHTEN. WHEN YOU'VE LOST YOUR TROUSERS -YOU'RE IN THE AIRLINE BUSINESS.”

— SIR ADAM THOMSON

Aviation Terms

These are common terms used at all airport locations in the Ireland. They are mainly airport related and you will hear them used every day.

Airside and Landside

All airports in the Ireland (and most airports throughout the world) are divided in to two areas:

Airside

Where access is restricted to employees who are security pass holders and arriving or departing passengers

Landside

Which is more or less the public areas of an airport, although there may be restricted access to parts of Landside. Customs restrictions apply to Airside and it is an offence to bring certain items such as Duty Free goods landside except as a passenger.

ATC

Air Traffic Control There is local ATC, national ATC and nowadays a European ATC based in Brussels known as “Eurocontrol”. They all work together to ensure safe and efficient use of airspace.

Slot Time(s)

The time allocated to an aircraft by ATC (normally Brussels) which is when the aircraft must be airborne in order to “slot” into the air traffic flows. There is usually a tolerance on either side of this, but ATC slots should never be taken lightly!

Leg, Sector or Route

Where the aircraft will fly to after it leaves the current airport. Leg and Sector usually refer to the next destination; Route may be used if the aircraft is due to stop at another airport before reaching its final destination.

Aviation Terminology

“RUNNING AN AIRLINE IS LIKE HAVING A BABY: FUN TO CONCEIVE, BUT HELL TO DELIVER.”

— C. E. WOOLMAN, PRINCIPAL FOUNDER DELTA AIR LINES

Aviation Terms

Airbridge

A movable link between the terminal building and the aircraft. Also known as a “jetty” or “jetway”

Airstair

Retractable passenger steps built into an aircraft.

Apron. The area provided for the embarkation, disembarkation, loading and unloading, and for the parking of aircraft.

APU

Auxiliary Power Unit. A turbine carried by most modern aircraft to provide electrical power for aircraft systems and pneumatic power for starting the engines whilst the aircraft is on the ground. It is basically a small jet engine.

ASU

Air Start Unit. A mobile ground version of an APU but which normally produces pneumatic power only. Used to start jet engines (by blowing high-pressure air through them) if the onboard APU is not functioning.

GPU

Ground Power Unit. A mobile electrical generator used when the APU is not working or when electrical power is needed over an extended period, making the APU uneconomical

FEP

Fixed Electrical Power is a “mains” equivalent of a GPU built into a fixed installation such as the terminal building.

Widebody

An aircraft such as a 747 “Jumbo” with more than one aisle between passenger seats.

Aviation Terminology

Aviation Terms

Narrowbody

An aircraft with a single aisle between passenger seats.

Hold(s)

The lower compartment(s) of an aircraft used for loading baggage, cargo and mail. Also referred to as “belly” or “bellies”.

Bulk Loaded

Bags, cargo and mail loaded directly into a hold or holds, usually but not always narrow bodied aircraft.

Containerised Load

Bags, cargo or mail loaded into containers or onto pallets before loading into a hold or holds. Usually but not always wide-bodied aircraft.

Tug

A vehicle used to push or tow aircraft.

Technical or Tech

Usually used in the phrase “the aircraft has gone tech”. This means there is a fault in the aircraft which may or may not delay its departure.

INDEF#

Indefinite (i.e. time); unable to give an estimate of duration (e.g. “indef tech”, “indef delayed”).

INOP or U/S

Aviation Terminology

Airimp Codes

“AIR TRANSPORT IS JUST A GLORIFIED BUS OPERATION.” — MICHAEL O'LEARY, RYANAIR CEO, QUOTED IN BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE, 12 SEPTEMBER 2002

Aircraft

Actual time of arrival Air Traffic Control Actual time of departure Live Animal

Blind passenger Cancelled

Commercially Important Person Cargo pallet Message

Departure Control System Dead Head Crew

Estimated time of arrival Estimated time of departure Flight interruption manifest Greenwich Mean Time Her Majesty’s Customs (UK) Hotel accommodation Human remains Irish Aviation Authority

Aviation Terminology

“I FEEL ABOUT AIRPLANES THE WAY I FEEL ABOUT DIETS. IT SEEMS THEY ARE

WONDERFUL THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO GO ON.” — JEAN KERR, THE SNAKE HAS ALL THE LINES, 1958.

Airimp Codes

Miscellaneous change order Movement Message

Minimum connecting time

Passenger with notified medical condition Other service information

Staff passenger Passengers

Live animals or pets in cabin Passenger information list Passenger name list

Passenger Service Message Passenger transfer message Registration (of aircraft) Regards

Aviation Terminology

Airimp Codes

OPTIONAL. EVERY LANDING IS MANDATORY... “

- UNKNOWN Remarks

Request

Service information Statistical Load Summary Seat occupied message Scheduled time of arrival Stretcher

Scheduled time of departure Station

Through check-in Ticket

Total on board Ticket on departure Universal Time Constant Wheelchair – Totally immobile Wheelchair – Assist to / from aircraft Wheelchair – Assist on steps

Aviation Terminology

Regulatory Authorities

Regulatory bodies set the rules on the way airlines, airports and handling agents can operate. Here are some of the key authorities listed below:

IAA – Irish Aviation Authority www.iaa.ie

The IAA is the equivilant of the CAA in Ireland - the governing body of all Irish registered airlines, airports and related companies, and issues regulations through Civil Aviation Publications - CAP

Documents. It also has responsibility for ensuring that companies working within the aviation industry comply with the relevant regulations and to check this it audits airlines & airports as on a regular basis.

FAA - Federal Aviation Administration

The FAA is the equivalent of the IAA in the USA and carries out much the same tasks as the IAA in regulating the aviation industry in the United States, ensuring compliance with safety standards and managing air traffic.

IATA - International Air Transport Association

Formed in 1946 to represent and serve the airline industry. Based in Montreal, with their executive office in Geneva, IATA provides services to airlines and to the travelling public by regulating the industry.

CAA – Civil Aviation Authority www.caa.co.uk

The CAA is the governing body of all UK registered airlines, airports and related companies, and issues regulations through Civil Aviation Publications - CAP Documents. It also has responsibility for ensuring that companies working within the aviation industry comply with the relevant regulations and to check this it audits airlines & airports as on a regular basis.

Aviation Authorities promote and oversee the safe operation of all aspects of General Aviation within the State and also the registered aircraft and license holders wherever they may be engaged in aviation activity.

Aviation Terminology

ALL STAFF HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAINTAINING AIRPORT SECURITY.

Regulatory Authorities

ICAO - International Civil Aviation Organisation

ICAO is the United Nations agency for civil aviation and works with national Air Traffic Services and regulatory bodies such as the IAA and NATS. ICAO is responsible for the introduction of Joint Aviation Requirements -JAR Ops - the harmonisation of European Union member states’ civil aviation regulations

SITA - Societe Internationale des Telecommunications Aeronautiques

Formed in 1949 and wholly owned by airlines, SITA is a global communications and data network. Airlines and related companies use the network to send messages and data concerning every aspect of their businesses, from reservation details to aircraft movement messages.

EASA

The European Aviation Safety Agency promotes the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in Europe. It advises the EU on aviation legislation, it implements and monitors safety standards in EU member countries, and it carries out safety and environmental research.