Airport Lingo.

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Mon, 12/10/2007 - 16:58 — Ming Chan

I just wanted to share a little airport lingo with you that you might have overheard from airport Employees on their radios. "What's your 20?"... most commonly means where are you? or what's your location? "Copy that" or "Roger that" means I understand or I got it. Or, the most misused phrase I've heard... "direct flight" (this means the flight makes at least one stop between origin and final destination). Nonstop means nonstop. Direct means the flight makes a stop without a connection. Does anyone have any jargon from their profession that they wanna share?

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Comments

It looks like the airport lingo is just CB lingo.

Chris Baker — Mon, 12/10/2007 - 22:19

"What's your 20" is actually derived from 10-20, or ten code used in CB lingo.

Dave — Mon, 12/10/2007 - 22:55

Sure, I'll play.
Newspaper biz:
Dummy is a mockup of an issue showing position of ads.
Web - newsprint on the roll while it is going thru the press.
Dingbat is a font with symbols instead of letters.
Nips - rollers that put the gear like tracks down the side of your finished paper.

mark — Mon, 12/10/2007 - 23:07

"Nonstop means nonstop. Direct means the flight makes a stop without a connection"
That's not quite correct. In most parts of the world, "direct" means nonstop and "through" is what we in the USA call a direct flight.

Don't forget that a direct (USA meaning) flight doesn't mean you won't change planes. If you have a flight from A to C via B with a change of aircraft but NOT a change of flight number in B, you are still on a direct flight. Ditto doing the opposite: you can change change flight numbers but not aircraft and still be on a direct flight, although this doesn't happen to much now a days.

David Ross — Mon, 12/10/2007 - 23:13

Bathtub: Non-loadbearing aerodynamic leading edge structure in the way of the root end of the wing.

Hockeystick: Joint plate between two wing panels.

AOG: Aircraft on Ground (generally for technical reasons!)

AGS: Aircraft General Standard. Fasteners/items of general use common to all aircraft.

Cow's head: Refuel coupling on an aircraft.

FAL: (Aircraft) Final Assembly Line

FOT: First Operational Test (Test carried out before first flight).

MAP: Mise au point. Design office in the Final Assembly Line which deals will all aircraft design configuration issues.

PAC Man: Product Assurance Coordinator. Handles quality issues for a specific aircraft type.

Slave: Bolt or dowel used to temporarily assemble parts, prior to being attached with the correct fastener.

Washing lines: Vertical work station on which aircraft wing panels are positioned and worked on prior to wing assembly.

PAMELA: Process for Advanced Management of End of Life Aircraft (aircraft recycling project that greatly reduces waste materials when disposing of old airframes).

Of course, we have many other terms and acronyms...
:o)

Raphael

Raphael Sheffield — Tue, 12/11/2007 - 10:10

The term "Code Red" is used for lightning delays and when the Ramp is closed during lightning (especially here in Florida). We were banned from using the term on the radio because Customers heard it and thought it related to terrorism.
In Tampa, some of us would have fun with the overhead page system, which is also used to alert the custodial staff of messes, areas that need cleaning, restroom "malfunctions"...etc. The overhead page most common in Tampa (like every 1-2 hours) is "CODE 10, CODE 10". Whenever this page was made, I would yell at my nearest Co-Worker "CODE 10!" and, if they know me and had a sense of humor, they would yell "CODE 10!" on to the next gate. We would always get a couple of looks from Customers. Of course, CODE 10 is in reference to an overflowing toilet that requires attention, but it sounded so official to yell down the concourse. Good times...

Chuck — Wed, 12/12/2007 - 18:13

At my former airline we would announce a cancelled flight on the radio by saying "Attention all Operations Personnel: Flight 1234 is missing from revision 2 of the flight schedule. Further information on this flight may now be found on Channel 13." The management at this company was under the impression that announcing a cancelled flight would cause mass hysteria in the terminal! Naturally, we adopted this term for other things that we considered "finished:" broken equipment was referred to as "channel 13'd" and an employee who had been terminated or resigned was the same, as in "Bob is 13."

Adam — Thu, 12/13/2007 - 12:42

Adam,
that's pretty funny. At my former airline, we couldn't call MD-80s "maddogs" on the radio. We were also forbidden to call our flight to Seoul the "Seoul Train."
Brian

Brian Lusk — Thu, 12/13/2007 - 14:40

My favorite is "de-planing."

Now, in my everyday life I refer to leaving my home as "de-housing, and when departing from my car I am "de-automobiling."

I'm in the hotel business. We have a few of our own that I'm sure makes no sense to guests.

Don — Sun, 12/16/2007 - 01:16

I'm a restaurant consultant. The term "in the weeds" means that either the "back of the house" (people working in the kitchen) or the "front of the house" (people serving guests) are overwhelmed with work, typically very much behind in trying to serve customers efficiently. The next time you go to a busy restaurant and the service seems to be very slow or confused, ask the manager on duty if they are "in the weeds."

Ed — Sun, 12/16/2007 - 13:18

Funny story, did not know where to post it, so I will put it here.
On Southwest from BWi to ALB. Flight attendent picks up mike and says:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, wleocme to Albany. If you are continuing on another Southwest flight, please check the monitor at the end of the jetway. If you are continuing on another airline (pause)... We don't care about you!"

Mayer Zimmerman — Mon, 12/17/2007 - 13:13

Ming - Great post....Merry CHRISTmas ya'll! And Happy FESTivus for the restofus...

James
MDW FA

James Malone — Thu, 12/20/2007 - 23:00

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