cruise-climb

verb

To slowly but continuously climb during cruise flight as the aircraft's weight decreases due to fuel burnoff (done because flight at higher altitudes is more efficient but requires a lighter aircraft).

“A cruise-climb is more efficient than the standard step climb, but is rarely used since it's much harder for ATC to manage.”

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Meanings

verbcruise-climb (third-person singular simple present cruise-climbs, present participle cruise-climbing, simple past and past participle cruise-climbed)

present singular third person cruise-climbs · participle present cruise-climbing · participle past cruise-climbed · past cruise-climbed · alternative cruise climb

  1. intransitiveusuallyaeronauticsTo slowly but continuously climb during cruise flight as the aircraft's weight decreases due to fuel burnoff (done because flight at higher altitudes is more efficient but requires a lighter aircraft).

    For a transatlantic crossing, the Concorde would be assigned a ~15,000-foot block of altitude; it started out at flight level 450 and gradually cruise-climbed up to between FL570 and FL600 over the mid-Atlantic before beginning to descend.

nouncruise-climb (plural cruise-climbs)

plural cruise-climbs · alternative cruise climb

  1. aeronauticsAn instance of cruise-climbing.

    A cruise-climb is more efficient than the standard step climb, but is rarely used since it's much harder for ATC to manage.

Cite this entry
APA

cruise-climb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cruise-climb

MLA

“cruise-climb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cruise-climb. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cruise-climb,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cruise-climb.

Source: cruise-climb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.