What Does MTOW Stand For In Airplanes?

Acronyms and abbreviations are all around us. There's no escaping them, really. For example, the airport codes you see on the boarding pass on your Apple Watch. One you might not see that often in your travels is "MTOW." It's very common (and exceedingly important) for airline pilots and crews, but not the kind of thing you're likely to find on a flight information board.

Like most of the terms listed by the FAA, MTOW is an acronym that cuts a multi-word concept down to just a few letters. In this particular instance, MTOW stands for "Maximum Takeoff Weight." In other words, this is the number (which can vary between airplane models based on their design, engines, etc.) that determines how heavy a given aircraft can be and still be able to take off — with a little bit of wiggle room, depending on a variety of other factors — because flying through the air in a giant metal tube is way more complex a process than modern air travel makes it seem.

Everything on an airplane that has mass has to be factored into its MTOW, too. This includes the weight of the plane itself, all the fuel in the tanks, passengers, cargo (which can exceed 300,000 pounds for models like the Boeing 747), and any additional supplies like emergency equipment, refreshments on a commercial flight, and so on.

MTOW is a critical detail for air travel of any kind because an aircraft exceeding this value could prevent it from being able to take off at all. And even if it doesn't, too much weight on an airplane can affect plenty of other things like necessary take off distance, fuel efficiency, rate of climb, maneuverability, or even contribute to a tire explosion. In other words, a plane exceeding its MTOW presents a significant safety risk.

An overburdened plane isn't something you really have to worry about on your next flight, though. While commercial flights can find themselves going over the plane's MTOW — possibly due to a weather-related reroute changing other parameters, among a bevy of other factors — they don't usually take off when it happens. Rather, the airline will do what it can to reduce the MTOW by offloading passengers or cargo, reducing the amount of fuel being carried, and so on.