From Ask the Pilot, a airflight jargon briefing. From the introduction:
The experience of air travel is unique in that people subject themselves to a long string of mostly anonymous authorities. From the moment you step through the terminal doors, you’re subject to orders — stand here, take your shoes off there, put your seat belt on, do this, put away that — and a flurry of information. Most of it comes not face-to-face, but over a microphone, delivered by employees, seen and unseen, in a vernacular that binges on jargon, acronyms and confusing euphemisms. There are people who make dozens of air journeys annually and still have only a vague understanding of many terms.
So, to help the baffled flier, what follows is Part 1 of a glossary. This week, we’ll concentrate on those expressions you hear while aloft or otherwise on board an aircraft. Next week, we’ll cover terms you encounter in the terminal and at the gate (plus any on-the-plane items that have managed to escape me). Not every word or phrase is included — some, as you’ll see, are presented tongue-in-cheek — but I’ve focused on those most easily misunderstood, or not understood at all.