Turnaround
The ground time between an aircraft's arrival and its next departure, and by extension a duty that goes out and comes straight back.
Definition
A turnaround is the period an aircraft spends on the ground between arriving from one sector and departing on the next, during which it is disembarked, cleaned, catered, fuelled, loaded and boarded. Low-cost carriers plan them at 25–35 minutes on narrow-bodies; long-haul wide-body turns run to two hours or more. Crew also use the word for a duty pattern that flies to a destination and returns to base the same day without a layover.
What it means for you
On short-haul the turnaround is where the day is won or lost: a security check, a cabin tidy, a catering count and a full boarding in the same 25 minutes, up to six times a day, with no time to eat. On long-haul a turnaround duty — out to a destination and straight back on the same aircraft — is the fatigue-heavy alternative to a layover and pays no allowance for a night away.
In practice
Ryanair plans 25-minute turnarounds on its 737s and rosters six-sector days around them, while an Emirates crew can be rostered a Dubai–Mumbai–Dubai turnaround with no time on the ground beyond the aircraft's own.
Related terms
4 terms- Ground timeFlight operationsThe scheduled time between an aircraft's arrival and its next departure — as little as 25 minutes at low-cost carriers.
- SectorFlight operationsOne flight from take-off to landing. A day's duty is counted in sectors, and low-cost pay is often earned per sector.
- LayoverRoster & schedulingThe rest period spent away from base between two duties, in a crew hotel, from a legal minimum overnight up to several days.
- BoardingFlight operationsThe period from the first passenger stepping aboard until the door closes — the busiest and, historically, least paid part of the job.