Aviation what is load factor

If you are flying straight and level, the weight of your plane is in equilibrium with the lift, and the load factor is lift/weight = 1

Imagine that you are flying s/l and –for some strange reason– the intensity of the earth's gravitational field, (usually expressed as the acceleration of gravity, g) suddenly becomes 3g

Load factor might be a term you've heard while discussing the performance of an airline or specific routes

It essentially means what percentage its of available seats an airline has been able to sell on its flights during a given period

The load factor can be a critical figure for airlines, proving their success in the market

Load factor (aeronautics) In aeronautics, the load factor is the ratio of the lift of an aircraft to its weight and represents a global measure of the stress ("load") to which the structure of the aircraft is subjected: where: Since the load factor is the ratio of two forces, it is dimensionless