gravy plane n.— «Mosiuoa Lekota, the defence minister, has appointed a committee to probe costly flights by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the deputy president, and other VIPs, he announced today.…“It will place the public in a position...
glass cockpit n.— «Like the shuttle, he now has what aviators refer to as a “glass cockpit.” Instead of clock-like gauges and mechanical readouts, his small plane uses multifunctional displays that appear to have been extracted from a...
customer of size n.— «I knew the odds were huge that whoever got the seat beside me would be what the airline industry calls, “a customer of size.” After all, nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight and about one-third...
stand-up overnight n.— «Sickler said he typically flies four or five legs a day, frequently works 12-hour days and spends four or five days every week in a hotel. He said a quarter of his shifts are what the airline industry calls...
buddy box n.— «Depending on the systems used, a novice pilot can try his or her wings under the tutelage of a more experienced pilot using what is called a “buddy box.” The student’s control box and the instructor’s control box are linked...
freight dog n.— «Cargo pilots—”freight dogs” as they sometimes call themselves—and safety advocates say that is part of the problem: The companies won’t put safety ahead of the bottom line.» —“Newspaper investigation...