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Glossary for the airline industry

From A-Z, this glossary covers definitions and explanations for common airline industry terminology.

user-defined zone

Any grouping of locales using cities, states, countries, industry zones, or areas defined by a data owner and assigned a unique Table 978 number. This zone ID can then be used as a single location when creating fares in Category 25.

UTA

Universal Ticket Attribute. One type of Routehappy Content, UTAs describe benefits and restrictions by fare in plain, simple language. UTAs are sourced from airline ATPCO fare, branded fare, and optional service filings. See also UPA and Amenities.

validate

To authenticate or substantiate a fare component.

validating carrier

The carrier whose ticket stock was used to issue the ticket. This carrier is commonly the holder of the money for the ticket. Also called plating carrier.

vendor

An organization that does not have an IATA-assigned two-character code.

via point

An intermediate point between two terminal points of a fare component.

voluntary cancellation

A cancellation of a ticketed itinerary that the passenger requested where there is no replacement itinerary and the ticket is refunded or discarded (no value). Does not include lost tickets.

voluntary changes

A change in the ticketed itinerary that the passenger requested where there is a replacement itinerary and the ticket is reissued/revalidated. Passengers who wish to standby for a flight are not included in this definition.

waitlist

List established when there are no more readily available spaces; names awaiting seat availability.

waivers

Any weakening or elimination of rules conditions as part of a private fare sale.

XML

Extensible Markup Language. A set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form.

XML messaging

The use of data coded in XML to communicate between two devices.

yield

A profitability indicator that is calculated by subtracting CASK from RASK.

yield management

The practice of changing availability of seats for each booking code on a flight. This process ensures optimized revenue per seat sold and entails using detailed historical booking, fare, and profit information, with powerful algorithms for implementation. Many airlines use what is called O&D revenue optimization, which creates yield management models across a carrier's entire network, rather than on specific flights only. ATPCO's RBD data provides the link between inventory and price, and is used in these systems.

YQ/YR

See Carrier-Imposed Fees.

YY

A generic carrier code used for carriers that participate in the IATA agreements. Any participant may use the fares and rules identified by carrier YY.

ZED

Zonal Employee Discount.

zonal fare

A fare where the origin, the destination, or both are expressed as a user-defined zone.

zones

Divisions of geographic areas of the world. ATPCO Zone codes are three numbers that begin with 0 or 1 for Area 1; with 2 for Area 2, and with 3 for Area 3.