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Aviation glossary

Foot

Also: feet, ft

Weights and performance

Imperial unit of length equal to 0.3048 metres, in which civil aviation expresses altitude across most of the world.

What it is

Although most of the world uses the metric system, civil aviation still measures altitude in feet (ft), a legacy of the American and British aircraft industries. ICAO accepts the foot as a unit for altitude, and it is used for cruising altitudes, flight levels, airport elevations and approach heights.

A foot is exactly 30.48 centimetres, so 1,000 feet is about 305 metres, and an aircraft cruising at 35,000 feet is at roughly 10,700 metres. Flight levels are named in hundreds of feet: FL350 means 35,000 feet measured against the standard pressure setting.

China has traditionally assigned flight levels in metres, so crews rely on conversion tables when entering or leaving its airspace.

Related terms

Flight levelAn altitude expressed in hundreds of feet and referenced to the standard pressure of 1013.25 hPa, giving aircraft at height a shared vertical reference. Service ceilingHighest altitude at which an aircraft can operate normally, set either by its ability to keep climbing or by the limit fixed in its certification. Airport elevationHeight above mean sea level of the highest point of an aerodrome's landing area, given in feet and metres. Nautical mileUnit of distance used in air and sea navigation, equal to exactly 1,852 metres and corresponding approximately to one minute of arc of latitude. KnotUnit of speed used in aviation and at sea, equal to one nautical mile per hour, which is exactly 1.852 km/h.
Whole glossary

Cite

To cite this page in academic work, an article or Wikipedia, choose the style and copy the reference. The access date is today.

This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Foot. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/foot

MLA

“Foot.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/foot. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Foot.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/foot.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Foot. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/foot (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_foot,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Foot}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/foot},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/foot}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/foot |title=Foot |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

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