The Secret Language Of Pilots You Didn't Even Know About

Every industry has its own jargon — a collection of technical terminology, slang, and miscellaneous other lingo that's typically unfamiliar to outsiders. With its high-level skills and a broad knowledge base that includes topics like aerodynamics and meteorology, the aviation industry soars above most when it comes to its jargon. Some phrases we're all familiar with, like "holding pattern" and "mayday," have even made their way into popular nomenclature. But sit down for drinks with a handful of pilots, and you may end up feeling a bit lost in the lingo.

Since Duolingo doesn't yet have a "pilotese" feature, we've compiled some under-the-radar pilot words we found lurking in chat rooms and on aviation industry websites. Whether your next flight through the friendly skies is on a jumbo jet, a prop plane, or a tiny puddle jumper, here's your Rosetta stone to the secret pilot language you might get to hear while in flight.

If you pay attention during your next flight, you'll likely hear this flight crew code word uttered by a flight attendant followed by a double ding sound. According to TikTokker, The Traveling Flight Attendant, this is simply a signal for flight attendants to report to their assigned door or other station. Example: "Cabin crew, cross-check and all-call."

Usually synonymous with "ramp," an apron is the essential spot next to the airport terminal where a plane is serviced, fueled, boarded, and loaded or unloaded. The domain of the ground crew, the apron, is where you'll see luggage getting transported on baggage carts. Example: "They were loading on a bitterly cold apron that morning."

Back in the day, when Ford's reputation was a little rough, the brand's detractors would often poke fun at the name, joking that it stood for "found on road dead" or "fast only rolling downhill." Pilots have their own salty anagram thanks to Boeing's tanking safety record amid the 737 Max debacle: "Bits of engine in neighbor's garden." It's usually heard as a punchline after, "Well, you know why they called it BOEING, right?"

The effects of a wild night out can linger well into the next day. So there's something really reassuring about the knowledge that pilots have a set rule about how much time they need to allow after their last drink before sitting down in the cockpit. It's what's known as the "bottle to throttle rule," and it can change depending on who a pilot is flying for. Although the Federal Aviation Administration (pdf) requires eight hours from "bottle to throttle," many airlines require 12 hours or longer. At the same time, some pilots prefer at least a day. 

When pilots talk about spotting CB, they're usually referring to thunderstorms and not the radio. The abbreviation references cumulonimbus clouds, something you might remember learning about in middle school science class. These are the dense, dark clouds associated with thunderstorms — something pilots would likely want to avoid since they can come with some pretty unstable wind and air circulation. An example found in the wild on Airline Pilot Central is: "If embedded CB are reported, don't fly IMC without radar."

Some airline pilots can make bank on the high end of the seniority spectrum. But to get there, many have to struggle through years of low pay — a problem that also plagues their flight crew. Between transportation, food, and hotel rooms, keeping up with a job that requires travel costs can be a struggle for many. Folks who hang around — and crash in — the pilot lounge to save on those costs are called "lounge lizards." Take it from a Reddit user, who wrote, "A lot of new hires at my airline are 'lounge lizards' and camp out in the lounge until they get something more permanent."

Although it's a term used more generally, "crashpad" has a very specific set of connotations in the aviation world. For pilots and flight attendants who run the same routes regularly, having a safe, warm, and reliable spot to rest their weary heads is essential. But since keeping an apartment or regular hotel room in a second city is not usually feasible, temporary group housing (a "crashpad") is the next best option. There are even entire Facebook groups dedicated to connecting airline employees with crashpad solutions on their routes. This was demonstrated by a Jet Careers forum poster, who expressed trepidation about taking on a "2 leg commute and crashpad" after having formerly ridden a bicycle to the hangar for work.

Keeping the doors secure on a plane is a pretty important airplane safety concern, something recently demonstrated when the door popped off of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 mid-flight. Faulty bolts notwithstanding, the process for making sure all those doors are secured is known as a "cross-check." Flight attendant lifestyle TikTokker Sharmy explained it like this: "Most aircraft have a way that you have to arm and disarm the exits." With a cross-check, the flight attendants first check their own doors, then each other's. After the lead flight attendant and flight deck confirm this, Sharmy continued, "Then we're ready to go."

If "they see me rollin', they hatin' " is the first thing that popped into your head, go ahead and abandon any ideas about pilots flying around with contraband while blasting Chamillionaire through the cockpit. "Flying dirty" just means flying with a plane's landing gear and flaps down. The opposite of flying clean for optimal aerodynamic performance, flying dirty can help a plane slow down in preparation for landing. Example: "We're about to land, so it's time to get dirty."

If the term "gate lice" sounds fairly unpleasant, it's meant to. The nickname refers to passengers in the pre-boarding air who show up and lurk around the gate before they've been called — and airline employees don't tend to view them favorably. As a PIlots of America forum user explained, "There is a term for the people that crowd the gate during boarding, Gate Lice." Another frustrated pilot wrote that one of their worst pet peeves is the gate lice who "start storming the gate and huddle around the desk even when their zone or priority isn't called."

In 2023, an Alaska Airlines pilot got his 15 minutes of fame for all the wrong reasons after he tried to interfere with a plane's fire suppression system and turn off its engines while coming down from a magic mushroom high. Although the pilot was off-duty at the time, he was riding along as a "jumpseater." Jumpseating pilots have the privilege of hitching a ride as a spare passenger by tagging along in the jumpseat — a fold-up seat in the cockpit (some even have two). As seen in the Leonardo DiCaprio film "Catch Me If You Can," when an airline employee tells Frank, "You're a little late, but the jumpseat is open." Jumpseaters are also referred to as "deadheads."

Most people know two terms for a distress call, "Mayday" and its telegraphic precedent, "S.O.S." However, many are unaware that another term denotes emerging urgent scenarios where assistance may be necessary later. The term "pan" stands for "possible assistance needed." Situations requiring the airplane to land at the nearest airport or change course would typically fall under this umbrella. As heard in a real-world air traffic call over hydraulic failure: "Pan-pan-pan, American 2963. Yep, we're gonna need to go to Dulles right now."

Smaller passenger planes that typically fly between one small airport and another with 20 or fewer passengers as their human cargo are called "puddle jumpers." The "puddle" part of the name refers to the fact that they're often used to hop over smaller bodies of water — say, between islands at a tropical destination. The term has been in use since at least 1917 when it appeared in the Iowa Dental Bulletin, which reminisced how each May, hundreds of "self-starters" would gather to "tell each other why their own little 'puddle-jumper' is the best ever."

When pilots and ATC communicate, one term that comes up pretty frequently is "SQUAWK." It's a general term that refers to communication and is used in connection with specific codes to convey meaning. According to Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, the use of "SQUAWK" codes dates back to World War II, when they were employed to identify aircraft as friends or foes.

"Keep the blue side up" is a general expression of good luck or well wishes among pilots. The phrase refers to the concept of spatial disorientation, a dangerous condition when pilots relying on Mark 1 Eyeball become disoriented and can no longer tell which direction is up and which way is down. As seen in a Redditor's u/Aviation post: "If I don't hear from ya, keep the blue side up."

"Recycle transponder" is another aviation word that technically means what it sounds like it should mean: to turn one's transponder off and on again. But look a little closer, and there's a layer of euphemism at work. That's because it can also mean a pilot has forgotten to turn it on. A user wrote in a Pilots of America forum that it's "part of the ATC phraseology list for blockhead pilots: 'Recycle your transponder.' (Turn it on, idiot!)." Or, as AVWeb put it, "That's polite controller speak for"wake up, dipstick!"