A-FA

(A) Flight Attendant Position - assigned to the forward section of the aircraft.

Able Bodied Person, a passenger that will assist the F/A in the event of an emergency.

Automated External Defibrillator— designed to treat passengers who are experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.

Air Traffic Control

The rear portion of the aircraft.

Any mail, freight or express moving by air

Aircraft Left

The left side of the aircraft as if you are in the cabin facing the cockpit. The captain’s

seat is on the aircraft left.

The right side of the aircraft as if you are in the cabin facing the cockpit. The

first officer’s seat is on the aircraft right.

B-FA

(B) Flight Attendant Position - assigned to the aft section of the aircraft

Every aircraft must be balanced in order to fly properly. Sometimes ballast (such as bags of sand or gravel) is required to be placed on the aircraft in order to balance it.

Persons that a flight attendant can assign to assist other guests. For example, in an

emergency the flight attendant may not be able to ensure an unaccompanied minor can get off the aircraft. The flight attendant will assign a “buddy” to the child, so the flight attendant can perform other duties.

An upright partition separating compartments.

Area inside the aircraft where the guests sit.

Pilot ultimately in charge of the aircraft. Responsible for First Officer and Flight

Attendant (s).

A term used interchangeably with airline.

An item brought on board the aircraft, controlled in size, and scanned for security reasons.

A plane “rented” by a group for operation into a specified (on-line or off-line)

city as long as the destination has FAA approved facilities.

Pilot in charge of all pilots and pilot related functions

Consists of two cities, the departure city and the destination cities.

Aircraft “climbs” right after take-off to an appropriate level cruising altitude.

An area in the forward part of the aircraft where the Captain and First

Officer sit and control the aircraft.

A seat in the cockpit which allows for an observer to sit. Usually this observer

is a pilot, check-pilot, or FAA personnel.

Company material can be interoffice correspondence, aircraft parts, reports or accountable forms that circulate by various means throughout the company.

A person assigned to duty in an aircraft during flight time. (pilot or flight attendant).

Wind blowing at an angle to the line of flight of an aircraft or any given direction.

Severe crosswinds make it difficult for an aircraft to take-off or land.

Travel completed on company aircraft by on duty crewmembers traveling to or

from the assignment who are not part of the working crew (in a passenger seat).

A flight that involves one or more scheduled stops enroute between origin and

destination. (Customers will often say direct but mean non-stop)

A water landing. When the aircraft lands in the water because of an emergency situation.

Storage compartment for emergency equipment. (E170)

A city where flight attendants are based and report to work. The flight attendant is

responsible for his/her transportation and lodging to their domicile if they do not live there. Also called a base.

Department of Transportation.

Enhanced Emergency Medical Kit—can be used during an in-flight medical emergency.

Emergency Light Switch—controls internal and external lights which direct guests to the closest emergency exit when evacuating the aircraft.

Any condition which has the potential to cause damage to the aircraft and possibly

injure the guests and crew. There are two types of emergencies. A planned emergency is when the crew has time to prepare the guests. An unplanned emergency usually occurs during take-off or landing. This is when the crew has no time to prepare the guests.

Rows containing the emergency exits. They are assigned on the day of

departure by ticketing personnel. These seats could be restricted in the Advanced Boarding System because guests must meet certain qualifications to be seated in these seats.

Estimated Time of Arrival

Estimated Time of Departure

A process to evacuate the aircraft under emergency circumstances.

Provide guests and crew a means to safely descend from the aircraft to the

ground during an emergency evacuation. (E170)

Personnel who are trained in emergency procedures on certain types of

aircraft and who also assure the guest’s comfort and safety during a flight. Also referred to by the public as Cabin Attendant, Hostess, Steward or Stewardess.

Federal Aviation Administration

First Aid Kit—may be used during an In-Flight medical emergency

Federal Air Marshall

Each flight attendant must have their manual with them at all

times while on duty. The manual contains pertinent Company and FAA policies and procedures as well as emergency procedures and equipment, first aid, announcements and aircraft specifics.

Federal Aviation Regulation. Rules which the FAA has set up to govern the US Airline industry.

Also referred to as CFR (Code of Federal Regulations)

A flight without guests. The plane is being moved from one point to another

for operation needs.

Flight Deck. Also known as cockpit

First Officer:The second in command on an aircraft. Reports to the Captain.

Emergency Flashlight

A seat that a certified flight attendant uses, during taxi, take-off

and landing.

A pilot, Captain, First Officer, flight engineer, or flight navigator assigned

to duty on an aircraft during flight time.

The front portion on aircraft.

Fasten Seat Belt Sign

Area for storage of service items.

A cart for storing beverages or food items.

Halon Fire Extinguisher —used to extinguish fires

Wind blowing in the direction opposite to the line of flight of an aircraft. Headwinds

can slow an aircraft down, depending of course on its velocity.

refers to a flight that is either maintaining a certain altitude, speed and pattern

or experiencing a delay on the ground while waiting for take-off clearance.

Infant Life Vest

Infant

Items available on a complimentary basis or for a nominal fee. These include

magazines, movies, meals, and beverages.

A scheduled stop between the origin and destination points of a flight where

additional guests may board or deplane. A flight making an intermediate stop is also a direct flight. Also known as a thru flight.

Jumpseat used by crew members

A procedure in which an aircraft touches down on the runway.

A child under age 2 who is not ticketed and sits on an adult’s lap for the entire flight.

Law Enforcement Officer

Minimum limits, i.e. ceiling (lowest layer of cloud cover) and visibility, have been established by the FAA for all airports. Aircraft are not permitted to take off or land if the weather is below these limits.

A paper which provides a means of determining and recording aircraft weight,

balance and loading configuration.

Life vest

A term used to describe a major carrier.

Megaphone—may be used post-evacuation or in the event the PA system is inoperative (E170)

Manual release tool—used to release oxygen dispensing units that do not

open automatically

Non revenue guest. A guest who has not paid full fare or any fare at all. (Airline employee, relative of airline employee, friend of employee)

The customer who travels on one airplane from origin to the destination without any

scheduled enroute stops.

National Transportation Safety Board

Assist disabled guests to the lavatory during flight. (E170)

Operating experience is required after completing ground school. The new Flight Attendant is supervised by a Check Flight Attendant in performance of required duties.

A type of itinerary in which the guest travels from origin to destination but does not

return

A condition which exists when more seats are reserved on a flight than the actual capacity of the aircraft.

Protective Breathing Equipment. A self contained breathing device used to help fight fires.

Pilot-in-Command

Portable Oxygen Bottle to provide supplemental oxygen to guests in an emergency.

An announcement given to guests concerning safety or customer service oriented

information.

The sequence of events and steps taken to prepare the cabin

in the event of a planned emergency.

A process in which emergency equipment and service items are checked for operational discrepancies when accepting a new aircraft for the day, after an aircraft swap or when aircraft has been left unattended.

Passenger Service Unit

The area at which an aircraft is loaded and unloaded. Everyone must observesafety rules while working on the ramp in order to avoid accidents.

Cabin call lights located by each Flight Attendant station. (E170)

Remain overnight bag. Flight attendants are required to carry a RON bag on all

flights.

The opposite of one way – the guest returns to the city of origin.

A runway is a paved strip used by airplanes for taking off and landing.

Actual seat a person sits on during a flight that can be removed and used

as a flotation device in the event of a ditching.

The arrangement of seats on an aircraft.

When an airline employee or a person traveling on an airline employee’s pass

travels on a flight they do not have a confirmed seat. A seat on the aircraft will be given to them if there is room after all the revenue passengers have boarded.

When the company has reserved a seat on board a flight for an employee to

travel on to get to work. These seats are “paid” for by the airline and a revenue passenger can not take it away from the employee. The only time the Company may do this is if it is necessary to get the flight attendant or pilot to another city to work a trip. An employee traveling on vacation or for personal reasons may not use a space positive ticket to get back and forth.

Guests who may be mentally or physically challenged and in need of

assistance.

occurs when two or more aircraft are holding at different levels. This may

occur when air traffic is so heavy that many other aircraft must wait their turns before landing.

A procedure which is in effect during the critical phase of flight when

communication with the flight deck is prohibited except in the event of an emergency or unusual circumstance. The critical phase of flight includes all operations below 10,000 feet (except level cruise), taxi, take-off and landing.

Wind blowing from behind the aircraft increasing its speed. Often times when a flight

has departed late it can pick up a tailwind, thereby gaining lost time.

A procedure in which an aircraft leaves the runway to become airborne.

Movement of an aircraft under its own power on the surface of an airport.

Connects runways to ramps or in many cases to other runways.

This is rough air caused by currents of warm air rising and cold air descending.

Unaccompanied Minor, a child traveling alone.

A situation in which there is little or no time to prepare the cabin or

guests prior to an evacuation.

measures horizontal distance at which ground objects can be seen and measured.

Depending on the visibility, it is the main ingredient in determining weather minimums.

The flight attendant is responsible for giving the cockpit an accurate passenger

count on board and where they are sitting. This enables the cockpit to compute the

weight and balance of the aircraft.

Wheelchair

wheelchair and passenger cannot climb steps

wheelchair onboard, passenger requires use of onboard wheelchair

carry-on passenger, completely immobile

passenger has own manual powered wheelchair

WCBD or WCBW

passenger has own electric wheelchair