Plain English Meaning
Turning minutes into a decimal part of an hour by dividing the minutes by 60, so the number works in normal math. 30 minutes becomes 0.5, 15 minutes becomes 0.25, and so on.
Full Definition
The process of expressing a number of minutes as a decimal fraction of an hour, so that time values can be used directly in flight planning calculations involving fuel burn, groundspeed, and distance. Minutes are converted by dividing the number of minutes by 60. For example, 30 minutes equals 0.5 hour, and 45 minutes equals 0.75 hour.
Context Anchor
Seen in flight planning when calculating flight time, fuel needed, distance, or any other value that uses hours instead of minutes.
Why Pilots Care
Prevents small time errors from accumulating into inaccurate totals for flight duration, fuel, or ETAs.