What is ETA/ETD ?
ETA stands for Estimated time of arrival and ETD stands for Estimated time of departure. All airlines leave on specified times, however, there may be delays at the time due to technical difficulties or inclement weather, etc. An airline gives an estimated time which is called as estimated time of arrival when arriving to a certain place or an estimated time of departure when the flight will take off.
What is a airline Flight number ?
A flight number is a 3 digit or a 4 digit number assigned to a particular flight departing from one point to another. A flight number is assigned in conjunction with the airline code as airlines may have the same flight numbers. For eg :- UA 544 and AA 544 may have the same flight number but are operated by different airlines and on different routes. Hence to avoid confusion the flight number is always displayed in conjunction with the airline code. A flight number which has 3 digits denotes its a pure flight meaning it is operated by the same airline through which you have purchased the ticket. A flight number which has 4 digits denotes it may be a flight which is operated by a partner airline.
What is a Domestic flight ?
When a flight or airline operates only within borders of a certain country it is termed as a domestic flight. For eg:- Go air operating within India or Great lakes airlines operating within the US.
What is a Charter Flight ?
A charter is a private airline service which has a limited number of seats and offers more comfort and service. Some of the big multinational corporation have their own charter planes for their Executives as time is of utmost importance for high level executives. On a charter flight, one does not have to go through check in procedure or have to wait for a flight to take off as scheduled. A charter flight is comparatively smaller compared to a commercial aircraft. Embraer jet is one of the most commonly used aircraft’s by charter flight companies and most corporate houses.
What is a Black box ?
A block box is a flight recorder normally it is orange in colour and is placed in the front of the aircraft. Its main purpose is to record data in order to assist the aircraft investigation team in event of an unforseen accident.
What does a carrier refer to in travel / airline industry ?
An airline is commonly known as carrier in airline and travel industry. Every airline has a two letter code also known as carrier code.For eg :- United Airline is denoted as UA, Southwest is Denoted as WN,Jet blue is denoted as B6, etc.
What is meant by Configuration in Airline Industry ?
Configuration, when referred in context to an airline, applies to the configuration of seating on an aircraft. An aircraft may have different configurations like 3-4-3 or 3-3 or 2-2, etc. For eg:- When an airline employee says that the plane has 3-4-3 configuration it means there are 3 seats on the left 4 seats in the middle and 3 seats on the right of the aircraft.
What is a Code Share flight ?
A codeshare flight is a flight which is operated by the partner airline of the airline through which you have purchased the ticket. A codeshare flight is denoted by four digits and a flight operated by the ticketing airline itself bears a three digit number. Lufthansa and United are partner airline and have mutually agreed to fly passengers on respective airlines to destinations which one of them do not operate to. For e.g. :- A traveller has booked a ticket on Lufthansa for his travel from Frankfurt to Cedar Rapids, IA since Lufthansa has flights till New York the connecting flight from New York to cedar rapids would be on a United Airlines flight which would be considered as the codeshare flight for Lufthansa. The Flight number for Flight from Frankfurt to New York would be LH 400 whereas the flight number for a flight from New York to Cedar Rapids would be LH 5491
What is a connecting flight ?
A travel itinerary may compromise of more than one flight. If a passenger has a long travel itinerary or if there are no nonstop flights to a particular destination he may have to get off from one flight and catch another flight to get to his destination. For eg:- If a traveller travelling from London to New Orleans has a flight on United via Newark.I n this scenario, the traveller has two flights one across the Atlantic from London to Newark and another from Newark to New Orleans. The traveller has to get down at Newark airport and get a connecting flight from Newark to New Orleans. While selecting a connecting flight one must ensure there is enough time to catch the connecting flight. Below are two types of connecting flights.
What is meant by an online connection in airline industry ?
When a traveller has a connecting flight on the same airline then such connection is termed as an online connection. The minimum time required to connect a flight on the same airline may be less as this type of connection is normally determined by the airline itself and there is a high possibility that the arriving flight and departing flight would be on the same terminal or gate area allowing the travellers to catch a connecting flight swiftly. The airline would also take responsibility in case the arriving flight is delayed due to a certain reason and would possibly delay the connecting flight to a certain extent so the passengers would not miss the connection. Hence it would be advisable to travel on flights with an online connection where ever possible.
(TIP :- There are exceptions to this type of connection although both the flights are operated by the same airline. The exception is noted when there are multiple airports serving the same city. For eg :- British Airways offers flight to Jersey from Gatwick airport but major international flights arrive into London Heathrow airport. Although the connecting flight is on the same airline since these are two different airports this does not qualify as an online connection.)
What is meant by an Interline connection in Airline Industry ?
A interline connection occurs when a traveller has a connecting flight on a different airline. An interline connection may or may not be in the same terminal or gate area. If you see that one ticket has been issued for both arriving and connecting flight it means that the airlines have an interline agreement between them. This would facilitate smooth transfer from one flight to another. Although the Airline may have an interline agreement with the connecting airline and a common ticket may be issued for both the airlines. However, in case of delay of the arriving flights, the connecting flight won’t be delayed but the airline which has issued a ticket to you would make alternate arrangements and book you on the next flight with its partner airline or any other airline depending upon the situation. However, in case, two separate tickets are issued by a travel agent the connecting airline and airline on which ticket is issued will not be liable for anything since the connection is determined by a travel agent and the traveller itself as per their preference.
(TIP :- When you have two separate tickets issued on connecting flights it is advisable to have enough layover which would cover time in case there is a delay in the arriving flight.)
What is a full service airline ?
A full-service airline is a term coined for traditional airlines offering all services on board like meals, seats and baggage in the cost of the ticket unlike the modern low-cost airlines which have an option for adding meals, costs for requesting seats and at times cost for check-in baggage. Some Low-cost airlines also charge for cabin baggage and faster check-in or web check-in. Full-service airlines also have a frequent flyer program in conjunction with airline alliances like star alliance or one world and travellers can avail miles or can use miles for travel on partner airlines. Most full-service airlines nowadays are following the business model of low-cost carriers due to tough competition from low-cost carriers. Especially in the US and Europe low-cost carriers and full-service carriers offer almost the same level of service since the full-service carriers have stopped free meals on board and have also started charging for check-in bags and preferred seats.
Gateway city: – A gateway city is the first city or first point through which a traveller enters a country. For eg:- A traveller travelling to Denver via Newark. His first point of entry is Newark which also becomes the gateway city.
GSA: – GSA stands for General Sales Agent, A General Sales Agent is an appointed representative for an airline, hotel, car rental, etc in absence of the organization in that country or city. For Eg:- A travel agency representing a particular airline in a city and acting as their city office for all its customers.
Ground staff:-The airline staff working at the airport facilitating ground operations like security, check in or passenger assistance is known as ground staff.
Jet stream :- Jet streams are air currents found in earth’s atmosphere. All Air travel is influenced by jet streams as all flights use jet streams to cut travel time. This a question which a travel professional would come across at least once in his carrier as why his flight when travelling in the direction from east to west took more time as compared to his flight from west to east. This happens because all flights take advantage of the jet stream which flows in the direction of west to east which propels the aircraft further as opposed to when travelling from east to west the flight has to go against the jet stream. Hence when travelling from west to east the travel time is significantly reduced as compared to when travelling in the other direction.
LCC :- LCC is acronym for Low cost Carrier also know as no frills airline or budget airline. These types of airlines are becoming common today owing to heavy competition in airline industry. This type of airlines offer lower fares and fewer comforts when compared to a traditional full service airline. They operate on a business model making maximum cost savings and providing lower air fares. Though a low cost airline offers decreased ticket prices they charge for all ancillary services like seating, baggage and meals on board which are generally included in the ticket price. Some low cost airlines operate at airports which charge fewer taxes and which have less traffic which would considerably save parking charges and fuel charges. Most low cost carriers sell their tickets online only and thus saving on GDS costs as well. Due to increased competition in airline industry more and more airlines are following this model. Some of the more popular Low cost airlines are Air Asia in South east asia,Ryan air and Easy jet operating in Europe,Indigo,Go air and spice jet in India and Southwest airlines operating in the US which is also the world’s biggest operating low cost carrier. Low cost Carriers have made air travel a lot cheaper and accessible to the common public and are possibly the way forward and future of airline industry.
(TIP :- Travelling to the US one can opt for a airline like Southwest which is not only cost effective but also provides 2 pieces of free baggage for domestic travel unlike all other airlines operating within the US which charge for baggage fees. However one needs to take a note as some of the flights operating don’t operate from a city’s primary airport. Like Southwest in Houston operates from Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) instead of George Bush (IAH) from where all major flights operate.)
42.Layover /Transit Time: – Layover is also known as transit time. The time between two connecting flights is termed as layover in airline industry. A minimum connecting time is the minimum time required as per airline and airport authority to connect at flight at a particular airport, whereas a layover is the actual amount of time a traveler spends at the airport between connecting flights. A minimum connecting time has specified times whereas a layover can be anything equal to or more than the minimum connecting time. A layover for a flight can be 45min or 2hrs and 45 min or 8hrs depending upon how a itinerary is constructed. It would be ideal to have enough layover time so the traveler would have appropriate time to catch a connecting flight and at the same time one has to ensure that the traveler does not have to spend unnecessary time at the airport. For eg :- If minimum connecting for a domestic flight is 30min it would be ideal to have a layover of a 1 hour 15 min to a hour.
43.Lounge (airline lounge) :- An airline lounge is a additional service which is provided to first and business class travelers and travelers who hold a elite frequent flyer membership with a airline. The airline lounge is located inside a airport terminal itself where travelers are provided with better seating (reclining), quieter environments, massagers, WiFi, showers, sleeping rooms and at times a free beverage or a small meal during their halt or waiting time at the airport. All airline lounges are serviced by attendants who cater to your needs during your transit or wait time at the airport. Even though you have not bought a business or first class ticket or do not have a higher frequent flyer membership you can still purchase a pass for the lounge by paying a nominal fee. However this may not be available for at all the airports. We have found a website which helps you in booking a lounge. Click on below link to find out more.
44.Loading Bridge :- Loading bridge is an enclosed, movable connector which connects an airport terminal gate to an airplane, it is also called as aerobridge or sky bridge.
45.Meal Plan (airline meal plan):-An Airline meal is a meal served to passengers on board on a commercial flight. Airline meals are prepared by professional catering companies which are owned by the airline they or by a catering company. Meals served on board on all full service airlines are free of cost and are part of ticket cost however low cost airlines charge for any meals on board. Generally across the globe very few airlines offer meals on Domestic flights operating within a countries boundary however there are airlines operating in Asian countries which still offer free meals on board on major domestic flights. Meals are normally offered on all international flights as most of the international flights have travel time beyond 2 hours however many low cost airlines provide a option to purchase a meal online or on board rather than including it in the ticket cost.
The meal plan depends mainly on duration of the flight, if the flight is a short flight for 2 hours or less a small snack and a drink would be provided and in case if it’s a long flight for more than 5 hours full fledged meals are provided to passengers on board and a meal plan is prepared which may include a 3 course meal or a two course meal depending upon the duration. If the flight is beyond 15 hours there would be multiple meals served on board for long haul flights. Apart from this the airline also takes care of any special meal requirements like infant meals for infants, child meal for children or special medical meals like diabetic meals,etc however such requests must be made well in advance to the airline. Below we are listing all major meal codes which airline uses for requesting meals.
AVML – Asian Vegetarian Meal
BBML – Baby Meal
CAKE – Birthday Cake (onScandinavian airlines only)
BLML – Bland Meal
CHML – Children Meal
CLML – Celebration Cake Meal
DBML – Diabetic Meal
FPML – Fruit Platter Meal
GFML – Gluten Intolerant Meal
HFML – High Fibre Meal
HNML – Hindu Non-Vegetarian Meal
OBML – Japanese Obento Meal (onUnited Airlines)
JPML – Japanese Meal (onJapan Airlines)
JNML – Junior Meal
KSML – Kosher Meal
KSMLS – Kosher Meal (Snack)
LCML – Low Calorie Meal
LFML – Low Fat Meal
NBML – No Beef Meal (onChina Airlines)
NFML – No Fish Meal (onLufthansa)
NLML – No Lactose Meal
LPML – Low Protein Meal
PRML – Low Purin Meal
LSML – Low Salt Meal
MOML – Muslim Meal
ORML – Oriental Meal
PFML – Peanut Free Meal
RFML – Refugee Meal (onUnited Airlines)
SFML – Seafood Meal
SPML – Special Meal, Specify Food
VJML – Vegetarian Jain Meal
VLML – Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal
VOML – Vegetarian Oriental Meal
RVML – Vegetarian Raw Meal
VVML – Vegetarian Vegan Meal (some airlines require VGML)
(Tip: – All meals have to be requested 24hrs prior to departure. Special meal requests like diabetic meal or low cal meal may require early requests as early as 48hrs prior to departure.)
MCT :- MCT stands for Minimum connecting time. It is the minimum time required to catch a connecting flight. Minimum Connecting timeis the amount of transfer time, agreed in advance between airlines and airport authorities, that is considered sufficient for a passenger to make a connection between an arriving flight and a departing flight. The minimum connecting time for a flight varies from airport to airport.MCT for a international flight is always more compared to a domestic flight as a traveler may have to go through immigration formalities and extended baggage screening. While booking a multi city itinerary for a passenger a agent must ensure MCT for all connecting flights is met with and should preferably leave extra time for a connecting flight so the passenger does not miss a connecting onward flight.
(TIP :- If you have a traveler travelling to the US and his first gateway city is New York and has a connecting flight from New York to Charlotte. Ensure that the traveler has enough time in new York as this will be his gateway city (first point) where he will have to go through immigration process hence it is essential to give the traveler at least 2 hrs or more considering the number of travelers visiting new York and possibly the traveler may face long immigration queues at the airport. The minimum connecting time in New York is 2hrs however this just may not be sufficient enough since the traveler has to go through immigration and has to remove his baggage for screening purposes at the first point of contact when entering the US. It would be ideal to reserve a connecting flight with a layover of more than 2hrs for such itineraries.)
Nonstop flight/Direct flight:- When a flight does not take a stop and travels direct to its destination is termed as a nonstop flight. Some flights at times halt to board more passengers. For eg :- Air India flight from Bombay to Newark,NJ is a non-stop flight without any stops and Air India flight from Bombay to New York (JFK) takes a halt in Delhi. Both flights technically are non stop flights since both of these flights do not change air crafts.Hence it is advisable to check the itinerary carefully before booking such flights.
Runway: – A runway or runway strip can be simply described as a road or a path from where a flight takes off or lands. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a “defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft”. Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (grass, dirt, gravel, ice, or salt).
- Seating :- The process of designating or assigning a seat for a flight reservation is termed as seating. Seating may not seem important however there are many travellers who are particular about seating and prefer particular seats on a aircraft. An aircraft is divided into First, business and Economy cabins and every cabin has a number of seats which have a designated seat number. For e.g. :- Economy class seats on Boeing 737 are divided into columns of 6 i.e : – A,B,C and D,E,F, Since the economy cabin starts from seat no 14 the seat will be 14A and next to it would be 14B and so forth. Although majority of seats in economy cabin on an aircraft are almost similar however there are certain seats which offer extra leg space or there are preferable seats like the first row seat or exit row seats, etc. Owing to competition in the industry the airlines have started charging extra money for preferred seating. Nowadays only a few free aisle seats and window seats are made available and one has to pay for the preferred seat or the airline would assign a seat randomly at the time of boarding as per availability. For Many low cost airlines and full service airlines preferred seating provides value able extra profits and hence they do not even display a seat map prior confirming a ticket.
Generic Seating codes
NW-Non smoking window
NA-Non smoking aisle.
Below is a website which would assist you on seating and will provide you value able information on the subject.
- Stand By: – A stand by refers to passenger who is on waitlist and would be confirmed only upon cancellation or only when all passengers have boarded the aircraft. A stand by ticket is provided to airline staff since it is not a revenue reservation it is the last reservation which is confirmed by the airline, post confirming waitlisted travellers if any.
- Stopover: – A stopover can be described as a stop or a halt in your journey when travelling from one point to another. However as per airline rules and regulations a stopover is defined depending upon various conditions such as time of stoppage, the country where the stop is taken, etc. When travelling domestically a 45 min layover can also be called as a stop however technically this does not classify as a stopover. When travelling internationally normally when an itinerary has a change of flight with a connecting flight on the same day or within 24 hours it is termed as transit and not a stopover, most of countries do not ask for a transit visa when a traveller has a immediate connecting flight within 24hours however some countries do require a transit visa depending upon your nationality. When the layover time between the flight is beyond 24hours it is termed as a stopover and the traveller may need a transit visa in such circumstances depending upon country to country and travellers nationality. Please note there are exception to this rule as there are certain countries where if the layover time between the immediate connecting flights exceeds 8 hours or 12 hours are considered as stopover and requires visa. Hence a agent has to carefully check for required documentation before confirming a itinerary.
- Take off: – When the flight goes air bone it is called as a take off.
- Taxi :- An aircraft upon landing or when stationary has to be transported till the runway. A small vehicle is used to pull the aircraft and take it near the runway and this is called as taxiing. This is done as aircraft wheels do not have a motor and are practically immovable on ground without thrust.
- Tarmac: – A tarmac is the surface or the area from where the aircraft takes off or lands.
- Terminal (airport terminal) :- An airport terminal is a building or complex of buildings at the airport from where passengers embark, disembark or transit for their flights. The terminal is operated by the airport authority or a organization which is appointed to run the airport operations. The airline employees serving at the airport terminal are called as airline ground staff. The terminal has various areas within the building like transit area, baggage claim area, check in counters, airport lounge, immigration counters, etc. Terminal buildings are well designed and mostly use easy and convenient signage in local and English language so people from various backgrounds and cultures can easily navigate through the airport. An airport may have more than one terminal depending upon the number of passengers it caters to. Each terminal building complex has different gates where flights arrive. The airline staffs are stationed in front of the gate where the flight arrives. Then the gate is connected to a sky bridge once the flight is parked and ready for boarding. Normally domestic terminals and international terminals are separated at the airport to avoid confusion among passengers. Each terminal serves numerous airlines however there are certain airports which have a terminal dedicated to a particular airline, like their national airline for that country. For e.g. :- The Terminal 3 at Dubai airport primarily caters only to Emirates flights and Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow airport is dedicated to British Airways.
Turbulence :- When a flight encounters inclement weather it is termed as turbulence.