IATA delay codes: reading them and disputing a minute with facts

Every delayed departure is given one or more codes describing its cause. IATA delay codes feed airline and airport punctuality statistics, EUROCONTROL’s analyses and, very concretely, the contractual relationship between an airline and its ground handler. For a handler, a wrongly allocated code means minutes counted against its service indicators for something it did not cause.

This article explains how the codes are structured, which ones concern ground handling, what sub-codes are for, and how to document a minute so it can be discussed on the facts.

What IATA delay codes are

Delay codes are standardised by IATA in the Airport Handling Manual (AHM). The standard list is referenced AHM 730 and the sub-codes AHM 731; EUROCONTROL reproduces both in the annex of its annual CODA Digest. On its AHM page, IATA states that delay codes sit in chapter 7 (aircraft movement control) and that the related procedures are updated through the AHM 732 process matrix. Before discussing a code, check which version of the list your contract and your airline customer use.

A delay code comes in two equivalent forms: a two-digit number (for example 32) and a two-letter code (for example GL). The tens digit gives the group.

Nine groups, one allocation logic

Based on the list reproduced by EUROCONTROL, the codes break down as follows:

The structure already says who is involved. 8x codes point to air traffic control, the airport or authorities; 9x codes to the previous flight or the airline; 1x and 3x codes, most of the time, to ground handling.

The groups that concern ground handling

Passengers and baggage (11 to 19)

This group covers late check-in (11 and 12), check-in errors (13), oversales (14), boarding, with discrepancies, paging and missing checked-in passengers (15), baggage processing and sorting (18), and boarding or deboarding of passengers with reduced mobility (19). Depending on how the station is organised, these activities belong to the handler, the airline or the airport.

Aircraft and ramp handling (31 to 39)

This is the core of ramp handling. According to the AHM 730 list:

• 31 (GD): aircraft documentation late or inaccurate (weight and balance, general declaration, passenger manifest);
• 32 (GL): loading and unloading (bulky or special loads, lack of loading staff);
• 33 (GE): loading equipment missing or broken down, such as the loader, or lack of staff;
• 34 (GS): servicing equipment missing or broken down, for example steps;
• 35 (GC): aircraft cleaning;
• 36 (GF): fuelling or defuelling, attributable to the fuel supplier;
• 37 (GB): catering delivered or loaded late;
• 38 (GU): ULDs missing or unserviceable;
• 39 (GT): technical equipment missing or broken down, for example the pushback tug.

Neighbouring codes, common sources of dispute

Several codes sit on the boundary of ground handling:

• 52 (DG): damage to the aircraft during ground operations (collision other than during taxiing, loading or offloading damage);
• 77 (WG): ground handling impaired by adverse weather;
• 87 (AF): airport facilities (stands, ramp congestion, lighting, buildings, gate limitations);
• 89 (AM): restrictions at the airport of departure, including start-up and pushback;
• 93 (RA): aircraft rotation, meaning late arrival of the aircraft from a previous flight.

This is often where the discussion happens. A delayed pushback may be a 39 if the tug was missing, or an 89 if clearance was slow. Likewise, code 93 describes the late arrival of the aircraft: if the turnaround itself was completed within the agreed time, there is no reason for the minute inherited from the previous flight to be charged to the handler.

Sub-codes: pinning down the cause

AHM 731 adds a sub-code letter to some codes. The list reproduced by EUROCONTROL details sub-codes for codes 73, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 89 and 93. A few that matter on the ground:

• 87: ramp congestion or abnormal stand access limitation (Y), baggage sorting system down or slow (V), jet bridge inoperative (T), late positioning of aircraft when the airport is responsible (J);
• 89: late pushback given for reasons other than infrastructure (I);
• 93: late arrival due to departure delay at the previous station (Z), en-route delay (Y) or delay after landing (X).

A sub-code turns a generic allocation into a precise fact. “Airport facilities” is open to debate; “jet bridge inoperative” can be checked.

Documenting a minute with time-stamped facts

You do not dispute a code on a hunch. You need to show, minute by minute, what happened on stand and when.

Reference times

A-CDM milestones provide a shared baseline: in-block time (AIBT), boarding start, aircraft ready, start-up request and approval, off-block time (AOBT). For several of these milestones, EUROCONTROL’s A-CDM manual specifies an accuracy of plus or minus one minute. Add to these the task times: arrival and departure of each piece of equipment, hold doors opened and closed, last bag loaded, load sheet handed over.

A five-step method

The contractual framework: SGHA and SLA

The SGHA

According to IATA, the SGHA (Standard Ground Handling Agreement) is an agreement between airlines and ground service providers that sets out the terms and conditions of ground handling services. It consists of a main agreement, Annex A (list of services) and Annex B (location, agreed services, negotiated details and charges). IATA says it is updated every five years; the 2023 version is part of the AHM. Using it is not mandatory, but it is common practice. Under the revised sub-article 5.10, the parties implement the ground handling procedures of the IGOM. Article 8 deals with liability and indemnity.

The SLA

The SLA defines the expected level of service. IATA publishes a template (AHM 803) and recommends negotiating it together with the SGHA: the SGHA sets the services and operational requirements, the SLA the level of service. EUROCONTROL’s A-CDM manual also points to service level agreements, for instance to decide who bears the delay of an aircraft held on stand because its TSAT is later than its TOBT: the question is to be resolved locally.

What to write into the contract

To keep disputes a matter of facts, it helps to agree some rules in advance: the version of the code list in use, the reference times, the evidence accepted, the dispute deadline and who has the final say. These rules are for the parties to negotiate; no standard sets them on their behalf.

How Turnpilot helps

Turnpilot’s SLA and delays module links every coded minute to its chain of evidence: the flight’s time-stamped timeline and, where the operator has chosen it, time-stamped images that belong to the operator. The airline portal lets you share that evidence with each airline, for its own flights only. For service providers, the page for ground handlers describes day-to-day use.