ACL (allowable cabin/cargo load)

ACL stands for allowable cabin/cargo load. It is an airlift and load-planning term for the amount of cargo and passengers that a specified aircraft may transport. The figure is not fixed for an aircraft type. It depends on weight, cubic displacement and the distance to be flown.

The term comes from military and NATO aviation vocabulary, and the Government of Canada's terminology bank records a closely related form, allowable cargo load. For a bid team, ACL is a planning quantity tied to a particular aircraft on a particular mission, not a general capacity rating.

How NATO defines allowable cabin/cargo load

NATO's glossary of acronyms and abbreviations expands ACL as "allowable cabin/cargo load" and associates it with ATP-49. You can see the entry in the NATO AAP-15 glossary.

In NATO terminology, the term describes the cargo and passengers, determined by weight, cubic displacement and distance flown, that a specified aircraft may carry. NATO archival material uses the related phrase "allowable cabin load" for the maximum load an aircraft can carry under specified operating conditions, as set out in a NATO archival terminology document.

The Canadian terminology record: allowable cargo load

The Government of Canada's TERMIUM Plus lists allowable cargo load as the standardized main English term and allowable cabin load as a synonym. The TERMIUM Plus record defines it as the amount of cargo that may be transported by a specified aircraft.

The record states that the figure is determined by weight, cubic displacement and the distance to be flown. This matches the NATO definition, so Canadian and NATO usage describe the same concept.

• Full form: allowable cabin/cargo load.
• Related Canadian terms: allowable cargo load (main term) and allowable cabin load (synonym).
• NATO reference: ATP-49, as listed in the AAP-15 glossary.

The three factors that set the allowable load

Each factor in the definition limits what an aircraft can carry, and the three work together.

• Weight: the mass of the cargo and passengers loaded on the aircraft.
• Cubic displacement: the volume the load occupies in the cabin or cargo space.
• Distance to be flown: the length of the mission, which changes how much load the specified aircraft may carry.

Because distance is part of the definition, the same aircraft can have a different ACL for different missions. Any ACL figure refers to a specified aircraft and a stated route.

What ACL means for suppliers bidding on Canadian public contracts

ACL is a technical airlift term, so treat it as one when it appears in a solicitation. Read how the document uses it, and note the aircraft, the load and the distance it refers to. If the wording is unclear, put a question to the contracting authority during the questions period.

Use the NATO and TERMIUM Plus definitions above to keep your own terminology consistent. Describe loads in terms of weight, cubic displacement and distance flown, and name the specified aircraft.

Federal opportunities are published on CanadaBuys, the Government of Canada's portal for doing business with the federal government and the broader Canadian public sector. The CanadaBuys guide on how to find tender opportunities explains how to search notices, so you can look for airlift and load-planning language in current solicitations.