Aviateur From United States, joined Apr 2004, 881 posts, RR: 11 Posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 7749 times:
I'm soliciting examples -- some serious, some tongue-in-cheek -- of the peculiar words, euphemisms, and mysterious phrases used by airlines. This is for an article I'm working on, to run soon in an online magazine, but it should also make an amusing thread here at ANet.
For example, when an airline says "AT THIS TIME," it really means now, or presently. When it says "EQUIPMENT," it means airplane. There's often an assumption that passengers understand these things, but frequently they don't. "THE RAMP?" What the hell is a RAMP?
I have a short list of examples drawn up so far, but I don't want to miss any obvious ones. Feel free to post here, and/or contact me directly at:
Aviateur@askthepilot.com
Cheers,
PS
Patrick Smith is a 767 first officer, air travel columnist and author
PSAjet17 From United States, joined exactly 6 years ago today! , 182 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 7520 times:
There's the old standard ARUNK!
(ARrival UNKnown used in ticketing when there is an open segment between an arrival city and the next departure city)
Glydrflyr From United States, joined Jan 2005, 205 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 7398 times:
This one is more pilot-ese than airline-ese, but here goes. Whenever I hear another pilot say something like "Comanche 89Pop, taking the runway" I'm always tempted to open my mike and say "Hey you 89Pop, don't take that runway anywhere, I'm gonna need it in a minute!"
Aviateur From United States, joined Apr 2004, 881 posts, RR: 11 Reply 12, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 7218 times:
Quoting RichardPrice (Reply 6): Y F E M O etc (not sure if some of those are even proper examples) of types of cabin - eg first, business, economy et al.
Never seen this explained anywhare.
Actually, it's explained in my book, though I concentrate on "classic" codes, F, C, Y. For biz class, J is a popular one nowadays.
Visit my home page at Askthepilot.com if you're curious about the book. I'n not allowed to link directly through this forum.
PS
Patrick Smith is a 767 first officer, air travel columnist and author
Zippyjet From United States, joined Sep 2001, 2503 posts, RR: 15 Reply 14, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 7164 times:
If we divulge too many secrets we may have to kill you!
Seriously: a few I can share
Honey-bucket/Lav-crapper on airplane
PETC- Pet In The Cabin
Flow Control- 5 years ago when I started with the company, I thought this meant one of the lav's were out of order. But it is really air traffic congestion/airport congestion.
Cluster Fuck- when all goes wrong.
UMNR-Unnacompanied Minor at first, I asked what the heck is a UMINNER?
Not necessarily uniformed crew (as we can deadhead in civvies), but deadhead is positioning of crew to another city to protect a flight. Deadheading crew are always "must ride", as the crew will bump revenue passengers everytime.
Can mean a few things: Turn is to clean the plane, cater it, service it after it arrives to go right back out (as in when the flight from EWR comes in, we must turn it in 15 minutes as not to delay the outbound departure). It can also mean a one day trip to a destination and back to the originating city (as in I flew a MIA turn from EWR yesterday, we left at 0900 and got back to EWR at 1600).
Layover is always a good one. A lot of non-airline people refer to their ground time between flights as a layover. Crew refer to their time at a destination during a trip as a layover.
Baron52ta From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2005, 211 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 7031 times:
When I used to work for BMA (as was) a pax asked what the aircraft was to be and on my reply that it was a Fokker the pax asked to see a supervisor for my being rude. LOL
Baron52ta From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2005, 211 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 6984 times:
Quoting N200WN (Reply 13): 1. Direct Flight - The public always confuses this one with "nonstop."
That can get even aircrew if you go Aeromexico , coming back from Mex my ticket said direct MEX - SAN and I was just a little bit confused when the plane landed in Peurto Vallarta.
CODC10 From United States, joined Jul 2000, 685 posts, RR: 9 Reply 21, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 6909 times:
I was sitting in 5D (bulkhead aisle) on a CO 735 flight EWR-Florida very recently, with 5E open next to me, and 5F occupied. Typical for a Plat, I was not upgraded on this aircraft, but thought I was sitting pretty for the short flight with the seat next to me open. Exactly two minutes after scheduled departure time, I overheard the following conversation between the agent and the lead FA:
FA: Well, can we button up? I'm full up front and 101 in back with 2 laps.
GA: We're waiting on a late connect. He's on the cart coming in from 122, should be here any second.
FA: Fine. Let me know.
GA: (Starts down the jetway) Oh, heads up, it's a POS. 5E. Big.
FA: (Glances toward me and the empty seat next to me) Gotcha.
Me: Oh shit...
I have heard the term POS used for Passenger of Size, to describe rather large individuals. Always thought that was kind of funny, especially because growing up, POS always stood for Piece Of Shit, and just to hear it used in that context is worth a chuckle for me. Alternatively, I have heard COS (Customer of Size) used, which must be in light of this particular connection between acronyms!
As it turned out, the flight attendant came up immediately after this conversation and asked me if I would prefer to switch to 14A, which was open, because the passenger on his way to the flight weighed in excess of 400lbs. Naturally, I switched in a heartbeat, as 14A, an exit row, has plenty of legroom and does recline. Needless to say I was glad I took the flight attendant up on the offer, because this particular customer required every bit of space he could get.
Fly727 From Mexico, joined Jul 2003, 1775 posts, RR: 23 Reply 24, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 6803 times:
I always find it funny when the airlines, no matter which announce they will give to the passengers at the gate, they all begin with the pompous "Ladies and gentlemen..." just as if we were being called to join the Queen for dinner, when in fact, a mere minutes away one will be cramped in the middle seat of coach class, with two inches of legroom and eating pretzels.
You definitely need to listen to "Airline announcements" by George Carlin. Hilarious!
RM
There are no stupid questions... just stupid people!
Iflyswa From United States, joined Sep 2006, 150 posts, RR: 2 Reply 25, posted (2 years 10 months 1 week 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 6787 times:
AOG: Aircraft On Ground
My .02
iflyswa
Opinions expressed by "iflyswa" are not those of Southwest Airlines Officers, Directors, or Employees.
26 AeroWesty: "Change of gauge" to indicate a direct flight with a change of aircraft en route, even though I would suppose historically it's a railroad term.
27 SSTsomeday: I bet the average traveller would never guess what "ramp rash" is... -"V1" or "V2" -"operational ceiling" -Flight level 32 (32.000 feet, right?) -When
28 Wingedarrow: Even NOSHOW is something that should properly be explained to passengers... I remember that once a former AZA colleague was explaining to a passenger
29 Necigrad: Might want to explain what the FARs are and why the airlines don't want to violate them. Passengers don't seem to understand. Define "change of equipm
30 FlyLKU: E T O P S - Engines Turn Or People Swim - OK, not really but it still makes me smile.
31 Turnit56N: Can I vote to remove "tarmac"? I can't explain why it's persisted as the catch-all US airline passenger term for any surface you may find an airplane
32 S5FA170: You all are lucky at CO! At my airline we must deadhead in uniform, and at United - Positive Space, Crew Movement means "At the gate agent's discreti
33 ClassicLover: The term "slip". It's the BA/QF (and others) term for a crew layover (Seriously!). "We have a 48 hour slip in Bangkok" - for example.
35 CroCop: same as bellow. I cant tell you how many times this drove me mad. We called the truck that dumps the lavs the Turd Hurst, where all turds go to die.
36 Lincoln: Ahh, yes. I as on a recent ExpressJet CLE-RDU flight where the passenger across from me was seriously pissed about this -- she was going (IIRC) MKE-R
37 Beau222: Imagine trying to explain a Bin Stretcher or HR to a passenger.
38 Cedarjet: Just say "At this time" at the end of every sentence. Have you ever heard the phrase except through the PA at the gate or on the plane? It's like "gra
39 HighFlyer9790: Don't forget LAHSO- Land And Hold Short Operations STOL- Short Takeoff and Landing Last call for flight #XXX- this really means you still have 15-20 m
40 Coleplane: A brief description is helpful. Obvious ones or not.
41 Zudnic: My father always used to complain about the FA's use of the term "deplane." He felt it sounded like they were ridding themselves of some kind of bug i
42 MDW717: Working a delayed flight late one night, I ran over to the next gate to meet an arrival. An older lady stopped me and said, "Is that our plane?" I was
43 Thepilot: At my FBO, if something is "squawked," it has been taken out for mechanical issues. ie: Where's 174 Golf Foxtrot? Oh, it's squawked. faulty mag. I als
44 Analog: If it really said "Stops: 0" for MKE-RDU then she had been mislead; it should have been a non-stop.
45 Cedarjet: It's a railway term - when there were different railway companies with different track gauges (width between rails), passengers would have to get off
46 Boston92: Wouldn't that be 3,200 feet? I think 32,000 feet would be FL320. I might be wrong though...
47 Lincoln: Yes -- She had a copy of her itinerary with her (it wasn't from CO's website -- I forget which site it was from, though) and allowed me to look it ov
48 EWRCabincrew: If you were denied boarding, what happened to the flight you were supposed to have worked? Gate agents have gotten into really bad trouble for not bo
49 WildcatYXU: That's interesting...Never heard about that. Trains going to former soviet countries literally change gauge. The car is hoisted and the undercarriage
50 MidEx216: There's a few interesting ones for this. We regularly use the term 'blue-juice', but they have also thrown around such things as 'the ice-cream truck
51 Tom12: It is when people say Y2 .. what is that? I assume some kind of airplane? Tom
52 EWRCabincrew: Y2 for me, as a flight attendant, means the second part of the coach cabin. We have Y1 and Y2 for doing passenger counts for factoring weight and bala
53 RichPhitzwell: SSSSS = Your our little bi@tch now.
55 S5FA170: Flights do get delayed and cancelled because of it. I've ended up being rescheduled and reserves were called out to work my flight. I've ended up get
56 SANFan: A couple more for your consideration: Sterile Concourse (ewwwwww -- I'm not going there!) Ramp? Ok, but what kind of disgusting airport has Ramp Rats?
57 G4LASRamper: "Special" or "selectee" as in those with the little S's all over their bag tags/boarding passes. Or "special" as in a pax requiring boarding/deplaning
58 SANFan: On a slightly more serious note, you'd better spend a paragraph trying to explain code shares and all the related terms in which a novice passenger re
59 Lincoln: Actually Bob's right here -- I had a trip December of '04 SFO-LAX-SFO, operated by AA but with an AS flight number. Luckily I called before the fligh
60 SANFan: Right you be, Linc. Oddly enough I had a niece travel last year from SJC to SEA with exactly the same scenario: almost missed her flight and IIRC, I s
61 RichPhitzwell: Along the same topic, write about reading carefully the different luggage policies, itinerary changes, check in/boarding procedures and travel insura
62 HighFlyer9790: your right. 32,000ft is reffered to as FL320. any altitude above 18,000MSL is standard as a flight level three digits.
63 Jacks757: I've seen 90 year old women getting the SSSSS treatment
64 MattCan: EWRCabinCrew Thanks for clarifying DEADHEAD. I always remember my dad, a TWA Captain going out in full uniform on DEADHEAD legs. Especially when we li
65 Zippyjet: Around here we've called the shit truck Poop Deville The latest in turd trucks. The '57 Chevy of turd trucks. http://www.film.queensu.ca/cj3B/Finds/F
66 TPAnx: My favorite.."final destination"....yeah, it makes sense, but it sounds SO ominous.. TPAnx
67 RichPhitzwell: They dont call them honey buckets / wagon's? Does any airport call them this?
68 G4LASRamper: Stencil seen on the side of a lav truck: "Yesterday's meals on wheels." Another piece of GSE: Air Start Unit, aka The Huffer.
69 Zkpilot: 747 zones: A-zone (front cabin usually 1st Class) B-zone (2nd from front cabin usually Business Class) c-zone (3rd from front cabin Usually Economy/Pr
70 Bobnwa: Agents at the airport can quite frequently be heard saying the "flight is in range" referring to an inbound flight. It goes back to the 1920's and 193
71 JayDub: I always called the lav trucks the "BMW" (BMW - Bowel Movement Wagon)...or the just simply "The Shitter". When working the ramp in DFW, we came up wit
72 Maverick623: Bee-wee = BWI Hotlanta = ATL Port-of-Viagra = PVR And my personal favorite: Clit = CLT
75 WingedMigrator: The one I can't stand is "once again". They say it even when there's nothing being repeated. The first announcement always begins with "once again, I
76 EWRCabincrew: I can remember in training the word 'domicile' being thrown around. Seems like the word has been replaced with 'base'. Looks like 'domicile' has beco
77 JayDub: Here's to starting service from Pensacola to Charlotte. [Edited 2007-02-04 20:13:46]
78 Maverick623: As a conx runner for US in PHX, I actually have seen a tag with the routing HNL-PHX-CLT-PNS
79 BHXFAOTIPYYC: Not quite airline, but in our office we have a few "codes" which go over clients heads like: "What's the Z?" - as in what is the commission on this ti
80 Maverick623: Just got reminded of our service to HMO... throw that one into the mix
81 JRadier: Not to be confused with a HUM who often is unaccompanied but isn't selfloading freight anymore. Err.... not in a lot of countries outside the US! bet
82 Zruda: I like the term UNRULY PAX, as it can be used for smelling, drunk, rude and other annoying ppl, and still its so policitally correct...
83 Zkpilot: They are both galleys... in most aircraft they are one and the same thing... 747 of course the aft galley has 2 components the fwd kitchen and the af
85 Viscount724: PAWOB - Passenger Arriving Without Bags (plural PAWOBS).
86 Ordpark: At UA, we have, what I believe to be unique nicknames for some of our fleet types (I apologize if I'm wrong). 737's are guppies, 744's are hogs and Ai
87 MDW717: One day when ORD-KIX canceled I routed a gentleman who was misconnecting and missing a very important meeting ORD-SIN-FUK He got there the morning of
88 Lincoln: Here's one more: What is the English translation of "Final and Immediate Boarding Call"? I've been in DTW and heard them making the "This is the Final
89 Tripleboom: I've also heard the A/C log book referred to as the can and the clipboard/container we take with us to the gate containing A319 matrices and the like
90 Mats: The phrase I have the most trouble with is: "You must be able to see the exit, hear instructions, and direct others to the exit. You must be able to d
91 Eoinnz: BOB - Best on Board (Hot Passengers!!!)
92 RichPhitzwell: This made me laugh. In ATL they love repeating everything, multiple time...items like: Flight blah blah blah (My flight) has just arrived at its dest
93 MidEx216: Sea-way - CWA Banana - BNA Shitheads - MCI oh whoops, did I actually say that?[Edited 2007-02-05 17:37:19]
94 PanHAM: also calle3d Gold Waggon. Airline-ese is fairly easy, I learned a lot before I got into the business just from reading timetables. Very intersting is
95 EWRCabincrew: Spanglish (Spanish/English) Deutschlish (Deutsch/English) Franglais (Francais/Anglais - French/English) Hinglish (Hindi/English) the list goes on...
96 StationManager: A few more: ETD estimated time departure ETA " " arrival STD Scheduled " "" BDT Boarding time AD actual dep EA estimated arrival ED estimated dep APU
97 Srbmod: So true. I may have to go listen to it again, as it's been awhile. I've heard other rampers refer to the catering truck as the "roach coach".
98 Boac747: I think passengers these days would not be surprpsed at all to hear that they are referred to as SOB's.
99 Aerlinguscargo: Great thread! NOOP- Not Operating CAO- Cargo Aircraft Only AVI- Live Animal -
101 Kmh1956: Love that one; it's right up there with the VERY euphemistic "controlled (or uncontrolled) descent into terrain" and my personal favorite: "near miss
Sponsor Message: 
From United States, joined Apr 2004, 881 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2006, 265 posts, 
, 182 posts, 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From Finland, joined Dec 2004, 3880 posts, 
From Canada, joined May 2006, 5347 posts, 
From Mexico, joined Jul 2003, 1775 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
