When one operates in a multilingual, multicultural environment, it becomes difficult to communicate with each other precisely. Languages, scripts, pronunciation may differ from people to people and yet it is needed to communicate in one single language which is simple to communicate and convey precise meaning.
Aviation and Travel industry is a classic example of this type. It deals with people from all over the world who speak differently, write differently in different languages and yet they need to communicate precise information such as flight numbers, time, etc. Thus over a period of decades, this industry evolved simple terms and codes for its use to bring about standardization, ease of understanding to bring efficiency and preciseness in their operations.
With the advent of automation, need for special terms became more acute since computers would understand only standardized information in codes. Thus it gave rise to standard codes which are used all around the globe. In fact, it became an important subject in Aviation & Tourism industry.
Code: A code is a rule for converting a piece of information, letter, word, phrase, or gesture into another form or representation, not necessarily of the same type. One reason for coding is to enable communication in places where ordinary spoken or written language is difficult or impossible. E.g. referring to two different countries such as China and Liechtenstein, with short and a long name can be brought to a standard codes which are easy to remember and communicate, can be done by referring to them as CN & LI.
Encoding is the process by which information from a source is converted into symbols. Decoding is reverse process of Encoding. It is converting these code symbols back into information understandable by a receiver. Codes were once common for ensuring the confidentiality of communications. Cable code replaces words into shorter words, allowing the same information to be sent with fewer characters, more quickly, and less expensively. Code words were chosen for various reasons: length, pronounceability, etc. Meanings were chosen to fit perceived needs: commercial negotiations, military terms for military codes.
Acronyms and abbreviations can also be considered codes, and in a sense all languages and writing systems are codes for human thought. Occasionally a code word achieves an independent existence and meaning while the original equivalent phrase is forgotten or at least no longer has the precise meaning attributed to the code word.
Terms & Terminology: Terms are words and compound words that are used in specific contexts. Terminology is the study of terms and their use. It is a systematic study of labeling and designating concepts particular to one subject for the purpose of documenting and promoting correct usage. Terminology studies how such terms come to be and their interrelationships within a particular domain. Terminology is not connected to information retrieval in any way but focused on the meaning and conveyance of concepts. Terminology is based on its own theoretical principles. It also involves assigning terms to concepts, compile terms, manage terminology database, creating new terms etc. Systematic terminology, which deals with all the terms in a specific subject field or domain of activity, is called as Terminology of that activity.
Aviation & Travel Terminology: Every industry has its own language. Terms or codes help travel agents to work efficiently under any situation. Travel industry is a service industry and the main objective is to make customers happy. There are various types of codes such as codes for cities, airport, airlines, aircraft, currencies, country etc. these codes help travel agents immensely to do there work quickly and proficiently. Travel agents are expected to be proficient at using these codes to create bookings for flights, cars, hotels, cruises etc. as well as supply valuable and important information to airlines and request services for their customers. These codes are widely used throughout travel industry. Without these codes the travel industry will stop working. As to identify these codes are very complex and tedious works. One should know that there are codes for individual cities, airport, airlines, country, currencies, states etc as well as there are special services/ meal request, miscellaneous codes, phonetic codes and more.
Who creates the Codes & Terminology?
Terminology for various industries is developed by industry leaders, associations or sometimes Governments. As far as Aviation & Travel Industry is concerned, most of the codes and terms have been developed by Global Industry Associations such as IATA, ICAO and few codes from ISO. These codes and terms are followed all over the world in the industry.
