Glossary
Aircraft
3 terms
Cabin classes and the trade-offs between them — range against payload, size against airport access.
Cabin Class
Cabin class is the industry practice of grouping private aircraft by cabin size, layout and range into categories such as light, midsize, super-midsize and heavy jet, used to price and compare charter, jet card and fractional aircraft. It is a commercial convention, not a government classification, and higher cabin classes carry materially higher hourly rates.
DefinitionLight Jet vs Midsize vs Heavy Jet
Light jet, midsize jet and heavy jet are industry categories that group private aircraft by cabin size, passenger capacity and range, rather than a formal regulatory classification. Light jets are smallest and cheapest to charter; heavy jets carry more passengers over longer distances at a materially higher hourly rate.
DefinitionRange vs Payload Trade-Off
The range vs payload trade-off is the aerodynamic relationship by which an aircraft's usable range falls as the weight it carries — passengers, baggage and cargo — rises, because total weight cannot exceed its maximum takeoff weight. Fully loaded, an aircraft flies less far than its advertised maximum range, sometimes forcing an unplanned fuel stop.
Definition