Quiz: How well do you speak airline?
Deadheading, jump seat, cross-check – you’ve heard the words, but do you know what they mean? Take our ultimate lingo quiz to see if you can identify real aviation jargon from what’s just hot air
19/05/2026
Words: Harriet Cooper
Need to brush up on your knowledge?
Read on for an in-depth lesson in airline lingo (spoiler alert – the quiz answers are below)
1. The ‘jump seat’
Separate from passenger seating, the ‘jump seat’ is a foldable seat for airline staff that’s used for safety and operational needs during flights, e.g. take-off and landing.
2. The ‘flight deck’
The ‘flight deck’ (aka the cockpit) is a specialised compartment at the front of the plane where you’ll find the pilots operating the controls and managing flight systems.
3. ‘Cross-checking’
‘Cross-checking’ is verifying the task of someone else and an important safety procedure used across aviation. In the cabin it could be when crew check each other’s stations to ensure the doors are properly locked before departure.
4. The ‘red-eye’
A ‘red-eye’ flight is when you travel overnight on a journey that leaves late and gets in at the crack of dawn – hence you may look a little fatigued, with bloodshot (red) eyes.
5. ‘Pushback’
Aircraft aren’t the best at reversing, so ‘pushback’ is when a special vehicle known as a tug pushes the aircraft backwards from the gate to the runway so it can take off.
6. ‘Wilco’
‘Wilco’ is a phrase used in two-way communication as a shortening of ‘will comply’. It means pilots have received and understood a message and will follow the instructions.
7. ‘Codeshare’
‘Codeshares’ are a type of shared flight where airlines come to an agreement to sell seats on each other’s flights using their own flight numbers (codes).
8. ‘Taxiing’
‘Taxiing’ is when a plane uses its own engines and propellers to get to runways, hangars or gates at an airport, rather than being towed.
9. The ‘aft’
The ‘aft’ is the rear portion of an aircraft directly opposite to the ‘nose’. It’s also a directional term to describe anything happening in the back end of the plane.
10. ‘Seat pitch’
The ‘seat pitch’ is the measurement from the point on one airplane seat to the exact same spot on the seat in front. More pitch means more space.
11. The ‘final approach’
The ‘final approach’ is the last flight path segment or leg in an aircraft’s approach to landing – when it’s lined up with the runway and descending to land.
12. ‘Holding pattern’
The ‘holding pattern’ is a specific airspace in which a plane enters a circular or racetrack-shaped route that it repeats until it gets clearance to land.
13. ‘Air pocket’
An ‘air pocket’ is a localised region of low air density or a descending air current that can cause an aircraft to experience a sudden change in altitude.
