load factor

American  

noun

1. the amount or weight of cargo, number of passengers, etc., that an aircraft, vehicle, or vessel can carry.

2. the percentage of available seats, space, or maximum carrying weight paid for and used by passengers, shippers, etc..

   An airline can't profit on a 40 percent load factor.

3. Electricity.  the ratio of the average load over a designated period of time to the peak load occurring in that period.

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load factor British  

noun

1. the ratio of the average electric load to the peak load over a period of time

2. aeronautics

   1. the ratio of a given external load to the weight of an aircraft

   2. the actual payload carried by an aircraft as a percentage of its maximum payload

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Etymology

Origin of load factor

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Cargo load factor for the three-month period fell by 1.0 percentage point to 56.2%, a segment that still faces uncertainty due to changing trade policies and market dynamics, the air carrier said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Airlines have lighter load factors during the low season and are better able to reshuffle flights and passengers.

From MarketWatch

All markets had load factor decreases in the quarter, with planes on its crucial North Atlantic routes flying 2.4 percentage points emptier and leading the falls, IAG said.

From The Wall Street Journal

That was the first time in six quarters that load factor didn’t miss expectations, according to FactSet data.

From MarketWatch

The load factors of flights going from India to Europe and Africa exceeded 75% last year, driven by connecting passengers, according to Kwan.

From Seattle Times