Okuzeka
Aviation vocabulary · Flight Phases

Cruise

Meaning in aviation, with examples

/kruːz/nounCore term

In aviation, cruise means: The longest and usually level part of a flight, flown at a steady altitude and speed between the climb and the descent.

In Turkish: seyir, seyir safhası

How it is used

Used as a noun and a verb: 'in the cruise', 'we are cruising at flight level 370'. Common in crew talk and passenger announcements: cruising altitude, cruise speed. Most of the cabin service happens during the cruise.

Example sentences

  1. We have now reached our cruising altitude of 37,000 feet.

  2. Fuel burn in the cruise was lower than planned thanks to the tailwind.

Common collocations

  • cruising altitude
  • cruise speed
  • in the cruise
  • cruise level
  • cruise phase
  • climbTo gain height. In aviation the word also names the phase of flight between takeoff and cruise, when the aircraft goes up to its cruising level.
  • descentThe phase of flight in which an aircraft leaves its cruising level and goes down towards the destination before the approach begins.
  • flight levelA cruising level used above the transition altitude, measured with the standard pressure setting of 1013 hPa and given in hundreds of feet: FL350 is about 35,000 feet.
  • autopilotA system that flies the aircraft automatically, holding a selected heading, altitude, speed or route, while the pilots monitor it.
  • airspeedThe speed of an aircraft relative to the air around it, which is what keeps it flying. Whenever there is wind, it is different from the ground speed.

More terms: Flight Phases

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: