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Aviation glossary

OEW

Operating Empty Weight · Also: operating empty weight, operating weight empty, basic operating weight

Weights and performance

Weight of an aircraft ready for service, with crew, equipment and the necessary fluids, but without passengers, cargo or usable fuel.

What it is

OEW starts from the aircraft as the manufacturer delivers it, with its structure, engines, systems, cabin and unusable fluids, and adds everything the airline needs to operate it: the crew and their baggage, drinking water, catering equipment, documents and emergency equipment. That is why two aircraft of the same model can have different OEWs.

It is the foundation of all weight planning. Subtract it from the MZFW and you have the maximum payload; subtract it from the MTOW and you have what is left to share between payload and fuel. Every kilogram saved on OEW, through lighter seats or composite materials, can become more passengers, more cargo or lower fuel burn.

As an order of magnitude, an Airbus A320neo has an OEW of about 44 tonnes, more than half its maximum take-off weight.

On Vuelopedia

Airbus A320

Related terms

MTOWMaximum weight at which an aircraft is certified to begin its take-off, including structure, crew, passengers, cargo and fuel. MZFWMaximum permitted weight of an aircraft with all its payload, crew and passengers on board, excluding the usable fuel in its tanks. PayloadWeight of everything that earns revenue on a flight, namely passengers and their baggage, cargo and mail, excluding the aircraft, crew and fuel. Cabin configurationInterior layout an operator chooses for its aircraft: seat count, classes, seats per row, seat pitch, galleys and lavatories.
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). OEW. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/oew

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Harvard

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

BibTeX

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

Wikipedia

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

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