Definition
Amount of delay to be encountered in airborne holding, assigned by Air Traffic Control to manage the flow of arriving aircraft into a destination airport when demand exceeds capacity.
Plain English
Extra time you'll need to spend flying — usually in a holding pattern — before you're cleared to continue toward landing. ATC tells you how long the delay will be so you can plan fuel and timing.
Context Anchor
You may encounter this in arrival planning, air traffic control messages, or when a controller tells an aircraft to hold before continuing to the airport.
Derivation
Airborne means carried by the air or in flight. Delay means a slowing or waiting period. Together, the phrase points to waiting that happens after the aircraft is already flying, not before departure.
Why Pilots Care
Directly affects fuel reserves, arrival timing, and the decision to accept or request an alternate routing or holding.
Intuition Check
Do not read airborne delay as a late takeoff or a ground wait. In this context, the aircraft is already flying; the delay is extra time spent in the air before proceeding or landing.
Example Sentence 1
ATC advised an airborne delay of 15 minutes due to arrival traffic at the destination.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot added extra fuel to the flight plan after learning that airborne delays were expected during the evening arrival rush.