Aviation marketing glossary: the terms your buyers use
Plain-English definitions of the regulatory, training, business aviation and marketing terms that come up when you market an aviation company. EASA first, with the FAA equivalent where there is one.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, which sets the common aviation safety rules applied by national authorities across the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration, the aviation authority of the United States. Its rules are organised in Parts of 14 CFR, such as Part 141 and Part 145.
National aviation authority (NAA)
The authority of each country that issues and oversees approvals, for example AESA in Spain, ENAC in Italy, the UK CAA or the GCAA in the UAE.
ATO
Approved Training Organisation: a school approved to deliver pilot training for licences and ratings under EASA Part-FCL, from PPL to ATPL and type ratings. More about ATO
Part 145
The EASA (and FAA) approval for maintenance organisations that maintain aircraft and components. Scope, ratings and stations define what an MRO may work on. More about Part 145
Part 147
The EASA approval for maintenance training organisations that deliver basic and aircraft type training for Part 66 engineer licences. More about Part 147
Part 66
The EASA licence for aircraft maintenance engineers, in categories such as A, B1 (mechanical), B2 (avionics) and C.
Part 21J (DOA)
The EASA Design Organisation Approval, which allows a company to design changes, repairs and STCs and to approve some of them under its own privileges.
Part 21G (POA)
The EASA Production Organisation Approval for companies that manufacture aircraft, engines, parts and appliances.
CAMO
Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation: the organisation responsible for keeping aircraft airworthy, planning maintenance and managing records. Its postholders are key buyers for MROs.
AOC
Air Operator Certificate: the certificate that allows a company to carry out commercial air transport, such as airline or charter flights.
STC
Supplemental Type Certificate: an approval for a major change to an aircraft type design, such as a new cabin, avionics or modification.
Part 141 and Part 61
The two FAA routes for pilot training in the United States: Part 141 schools follow an approved syllabus; Part 61 allows more flexible training.
Pilot and engineer training
PPL
Private Pilot Licence: the first licence, allowing private, non-commercial flying.
CPL
Commercial Pilot Licence: allows a pilot to be paid to fly. In marketing, CPL also means cost per lead, so we spell both out.
ATPL
Airline Transport Pilot Licence: the highest pilot licence, required to command airliners. Students first earn a "frozen" ATPL through theory exams.
Integrated ATPL
A full-time course that takes a student from zero to a commercial licence with frozen ATPL in about 18 to 24 months, usually the highest-value programme a flight school sells. More about Integrated ATPL
Modular training
The step-by-step route to a commercial licence, taking PPL, hours building, CPL, instrument rating and theory as separate modules.
MCC and APS MCC
Multi-Crew Cooperation training, and its airline-focused advanced version, which prepare pilots to work in a two-pilot cockpit.
Type rating
The qualification to fly or maintain a specific aircraft type, such as an A320 or a Boeing 737.
Cabin crew attestation
The EASA certificate cabin crew need to work on commercial flights, delivered by approved training organisations.
Business aviation and operations
FBO
Fixed Base Operator: the business aviation terminal and service provider at an airport, offering handling, fuel, lounges and hangarage. More about FBO
Charter broker
A company that sells charter flights to clients and books them with operators that hold an AOC. Brokers are a key sales channel for charter operators.
Empty leg
A positioning flight without passengers that operators sell at a discount, often promoted by email and social media.
ACMI
Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance: a wet lease in which one operator provides an aircraft with its crew to another.
MRO
Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul: the maintenance industry, from line and base maintenance to engine and component shops. More about MRO
Line and base maintenance
Line maintenance is done at the gate or on the apron between flights; base maintenance covers heavy checks in a hangar.
AOG
Aircraft On Ground: an aircraft that cannot fly because of a technical problem, the most urgent situation in maintenance and parts supply.
Aviation marketing
Aviation marketing
The planning and running of marketing for companies that sell to pilots, students, operators, airlines and aviation businesses. More about Aviation marketing
Cost per qualified lead
What it costs to generate one enquiry that matches the buyer criteria you set, the most useful cost metric for aviation campaigns.
Pay per qualified lead
A model in which the agency funds the advertising and the client pays only for leads that meet agreed criteria, as in the CLIMB Framework. More about Pay per qualified lead
CLIMB Framework
Air Trending's student acquisition model for flight schools: Campaigns, Landings, Inquiries, Match and qualify, Board. More about CLIMB Framework
Mach Framework
Air Trending's methodology that aligns marketing, sales and automation in five phases: Reach, Generate, Orchestrate, Sell, Measure and refine. More about Mach Framework
ABM
Account-based marketing: marketing aimed at a defined list of target companies and the people who decide inside them, common in B2B aviation. More about ABM
SEO
Search engine optimisation: making pages rank in Google and Bing for the searches buyers make. More about SEO
GEO
Generative engine optimisation: making a company appear and be recommended in the answers of AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. More about GEO
AEO
Answer engine optimisation: writing pages that give direct, structured answers to questions, so search engines and assistants can quote them.
llms.txt
A plain-text file at the root of a website that summarises its key pages for AI assistants. Optional, but cheap to maintain.
Structured data
Code (schema.org in JSON-LD) that tells search engines and AI what a page is about: the organisation, its services, FAQs and breadcrumbs.
CRM
Customer relationship management: the system that stores every enquiry, its source and its stage. Air Lift is Air Trending's CRM for aviation. More about CRM
Lead nurturing
Automated and personal follow-up that keeps a prospect engaged during a long decision, such as course dates, case studies and reminders.
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