Term	Definition
Actual Weight	The actual weight of a shipment is the total gross weight in kg (or lbs) of an airfreight shipment including special crating or spreading as received from shipper or agent. It does not include the weight of any ULD. It is the weight that is usually charged for, see chargeable weight and volume weight.
AEA	Association of European Airlines.
Aircraft Utilisation	Average number of hours an aircraft is airborne, calculated by dividing the total airborne hours by the number of service days.
Air Freight	Transportation of goods by air.
Air Waybill	Document entitled "Air Waybill/Consignment Note", official contract concerning transportation of cargo by air, made out by or on behalf of the shipper, which is the contract between the shipper and carrier for the carriage of goods over the route of the carrier.
ATA	Actual time of arrival of a flight or truck, expressed in a 6 cipher code, stated in UTC for Flights, in LT for trucks. ATA can be same as STA but can be earlier or later than ETA depending on meteorological or technical factors.
ATD	Actual time of departure, expressed in a 6 cipher code, stated in UTC for flights, in LT for trucks. ATD can (should) be same as STD, but can be earlier or later.
Breakpoint	The chargeable weight from which reduced rates apply
Cabotage	Applies to cargo carried on a domestic flight and therefore not subject to international agreements that fix set rates. Cabotage rates are negotiable between the shipper and the airline and apply on flights within a country and to its overseas territories.
Cargo	Freight for carriage by sea, land or air.
Carrier	Organisation that undertakes transportation of goods by sea, surface or air. "Contracting Carrier" means a person or company who as a principle makes an agreement for carriage governed by the Warsaw Convention with a passenger or the consignor. "Actual Carrier" means a person or company other than the contracting carrier, who, by virtue of authority from the contracting carrier, performs the whole or part of the carriage, but who is not, with respect of such part, a consecutive carrier within the meaning of the Warsaw Convention. Such authority is presumed in the absence of proof of the contrary.
CASS	Cargo Account Settlement System. Clearing house for air cargo operations.
CHAMP	"Cargo Handling and Management Planning" system, first developed in the mid 1980s
Chargeable Weight	Is the amount of weight that is paid for, abbreviation is CHWT. Most often it is the actual weight; the chargeable weight will be the volume weight if this volume weight is higher than the actual weight. In case of Shipper Built Units (SBU) the chargeable weight must not be less than the Pivot Weight. Same Pivot Weight may be used to establish the chargeable weight for offsize pieces causing high loss of space.
Consignee	The contracting party (person or company) on the AWB entitled to receive the shipment under that AWB, to give instructions to the delivering carrier related hereto, but simultaneously assuming responsibility for the shipment resulting from his instructions.
Consignor	Synonym of shipper
Consolidation	The grouping of different shipments under one Air Waybill
Current Asset	Short term assets including cash, accounts receivable (money owed by customers), marketable securities, prepaid expenses and other assets that can be converted to cash within one year.
Deadhead Crew	Designation of a crew who, for positioning in a given airport, are on board an aircraft and are on duty, but not operating that flight
Disbursement	Charges paid by the agent or by the carrier on behalf of the consignee, before dispatch of the cargo
Disbursement Fee	An amount, based upon the disbursement, collected from the consignee and credited to the issuing carrier or agent to cover supplementary handling costs arising from the disbursement
EBIT	Earnings Before Interest and Taxes
E-commerce	Exchange of information via the Internet from business processes between two or more entities.
Embargo	Refusal by a carrier, for a given period of time, to accept for transportation over any given route or segment thereof, to or from any given airport or country, for or from a given connecting carrier, any cargo in general or a given commodity
ETA	Estimated Time of Arrival, the calculated time of arrival at destination of a flight or of a truck, generally stated in UTC for flights and in LT for trucks. It is expressed in a 6 cypher code, where the first two cyphers indicate the date, the next two the hour and the last two the minutes.
ETD	Estimated Time of Departure, the planned time of departure of a flight or of a truck. It is expressed as a 6 cypher code, where the first two cyphers indicate the date, the next two the hour and the last two the minutes.
Forwarder	Organisation whose activity is the collection, shipment and delivery of goods
GAAP	General Accepted Accounting Standards
General Declaration	A form used for customs purposes, issued for any commercial flight, stating names of crew members and, if applicable, loadmaster, cabin attendant, deadhead crew and mechanics. It also contains a statement of any passenger and/or cargo on board.
Groom	Synonym of Animal Attendant
Gross Weight	- for a package The gross weight is the weight of an object including the packaging (tare) -for aircraft weight and balance the gross weight is the total weight of the cargo plus the weight of the ULD equipment, spreading material and the tiedown items like nets, straps, etc.
Hazardous Materials	Also called dangerous goods or restricted articles. Goods that represent a danger unless properly identified, classified packed, marked and labelled as per valid Dangerous Goods Regulations.
Hub	Point where several branches of a network converge. In the cargo industry, hubs are used to control the timely connection of aircraft and trucks to reduce transit time of goods.
House Air Waybill (HAWB)	The forwarding agent's air waybill, not valid for transportation for the carrier. HAWB conditions are contracted between the agent and the shipper and do not concern the carrier.
IATA	IATA (International Air Transport Association) was founded in Havana (Cuba), in April 1945. It is the prime vehicle for inter airline corporation in promoting safe, reliable, secure and economical air services, for the benefit of the world's consumer. At its foundation, IATA had 57 members from 31 nations, mostly in Europe and North America. Today it has over 230 members from more than 130 nations, in every part of the globe.
ICAO	International Civil Aviation Organisation
ICH	IATA Clearing House
Laden Weight	Synonym for gross weight in relation with packages
Load Factor (L/F)	Relation between space occupied and total space available for each flight, respectively the relation between net weight of cargo actually on board and the maximum net weight permitted for each flight.
Logistics	Activities that deal with all aspects of procurement, movement, maintenance, and disposition of supplies, equipment, facilities and personnel and the provision of services.
LT	Local Time
Man-hours	Unit of time for maintenance work. Number of workers multiplied by hours worked
Net Weight	- the weight of an object without packing material - for weight and balance it is the weight of all the shipments including the packing but excluding ULDs and tie-down material (nets, straps, etc.) Also known as Net Payload.
Notify Party	A third party, involved in the destination of a shipment due to commercial or handling reasons, to be informed about the arrival of the goods, besides the consignee mentioned on the AWB.
Offsize Cargo	Cargo exceeding the dimensions or the maximum approved weight capacity of a specified ULD
Operating Income	Turnover. Revenues from operations including scheduled flight revenues, charter revenues, maintenance to third parties revenues and all other operating revenues.
Overpack	A repackaging system used by a shipper to contain one or more packages so to form one handling unit for convenience of handling. Such overpack can be a simple wooden skid, a crate or a fully closed large box.
Payload	The load capacity of an aircraft including fuel, crew, passengers, freight, cargo equipment, (maximum takeoff weight minus basic empty weight) - gross payload: the weight of the cargo including cargo equipment (ULDs) - net payload: the weight of the cargo itself
Pivot Weight	Minimum chargeable weight to be paid for, specified per ULDs capacity and/or its positions on board of the aircraft
Range	Amplitude between stock low and high price for a particular trading period.
Shipper	The contracting party (person or company) entitled to give orders and instructions about his shipment to the accepting (issuing) carrier, simultaneously assuming full responsibility for any charges arising, until the moment the consignee has signed for receipt.
Shipper Built Unit (SBU)	ULD completely built by an agent or a shipper and delivered to the carrier at departure station ready for carriage.
STA	Scheduled time of arrival, the time of arrival according to the published schedule expressed in a 6 cipher code, stated in LT or UTC for flights, in LT for trucks.
Standby Cargo	a) Cargo with special low rate which is loaded on board a flight only when remaining space is available b) Cargo booked for a flight but already available for and/or requested to leave on a earlier flight which was already fully booked upon booking. The cargo is standby for this earlier flight.
STD	Scheduled time of departure, the time of departure according to the published schedule expressed in a 6 cipher code, stated in LT or UTC for flights, in LT for trucks
Sub Hub	Secondary hub that connects a main hub.
Tare Weight	Weight of an empty package, for weight and balance it is the weight of all the ULDs on board including tiedown material like nets and straps.
Technical Stop	Landing for aircraft fuelling and/or crew change, but without cargo offloading or reloading
Ton-kilometres Flown	Tons carried multiplied by the distance flown. Measure of the company's cargo production.
Tons Carried	Number of tons of cargo transported in all aircraft over a given period
UTC	Universal Time Co-ordinated, the international time standard, also known as Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT)
ULD	Abbreviation for a Unit Load Device and includes all types of cargo equipment used for cargo loading and transportation on board of the aircraft
Volume Ratio	Calculation factor to determine the maximum permitted volume towards the actual weight. Presently the standard volume ratio is established at 1:6 (1 kg weight max. 6 litres of volume)
Volume Weight	The space occupied by an object expressed in weight unit (kg) obtained by dividing the volume by the volume ratio, needed to establish the chargeable weight.
Warehouse	A place where goods are stored for a certain period of time. Normally carrier warehouses are Customs Bond, which means that any package must be registered under a Customs document.
Yield	The amount of interest paid on a bond divided by the price, a measure of the income generated by a bond. In the airline industry, the yield is the price per weight unit of cargo transported (usually price per kilogram).