Definition
A trade association representing the principal scheduled airlines of the United States. The Air Transport Association develops and publishes industry standards used across commercial aviation, most notably the ATA Specification 100 numbering system, which assigns standardized chapter numbers to aircraft systems and components for use in maintenance manuals, parts catalogs, and technical documentation.
Plain English
An industry group for U.S. airlines that creates the common numbering system used in aircraft maintenance manuals, so every airline and mechanic refers to aircraft systems the same way.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft maintenance manuals, service documents, inspection records, and training material that refer to ATA chapters or ATA numbering.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots and mechanics who reference technical manuals rely on ATA chapter numbers to find information quickly. Knowing that a hydraulic question lives in Chapter 29, regardless of which aircraft type, saves time during troubleshooting and study.
Intuition Check
Do not read Air Transport Association as a government agency or an air traffic control service. Here it refers to an airline industry association, especially as connected with aircraft maintenance manual organization.
Example Sentence 1
Look up the brake system in Chapter 32 of the maintenance manual—that's the Air Transport Association number for landing gear.
Example Sentence 2
Even on newer aircraft the maintenance data still follows the numbering format first established by the Air Transport Association.