Definition
A numerical comparison of the expected benefits of a project or proposal to its expected costs, expressed as a ratio. In aviation planning, a BCR greater than 1.0 indicates that projected benefits exceed projected costs, while a BCR below 1.0 indicates the reverse. The FAA and airport authorities use BCR figures when evaluating proposed airport improvements, navigation aid installations, and safety upgrades.
Plain English
A simple way of asking, 'Is this worth doing?' You add up what the project will give you and divide it by what it will cost. If the answer is more than 1, you get more out than you put in.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation planning, airport improvement discussions, safety project evaluations, and FAA administrative material rather than in normal cockpit control use.
Derivation
“Ratio” comes from a Latin word meaning a reckoning or calculation. That helps here because a benefit/cost ratio is not a general opinion about whether something is good; it is a calculated comparison between benefits and costs.
Why Pilots Care
Helps determine which improvements receive funding and which projects move forward at airports pilots use.
Intuition Check
Do not read BCR as “benefit minus cost.” It means benefits compared to costs, usually by division.
Example Sentence 1
The proposed runway lighting upgrade had a BCR of 2.3, so the project moved forward to the funding stage.
Example Sentence 2
Analysts compared the benefit/cost ratio of several navigation upgrades before selecting which ones to fund first.