What is Zero Fuel Weight (ZFW) commonly defined as?

• A. BEW alone.
• B. Payload plus BEW.
• C. BEW plus payload, excluding usable fuel.
• D. BEW plus payload, including usable fuel.

Answer: (C)

Zero Fuel Weight is the weight of the aircraft once you’ve loaded all payload (passengers, baggage, cargo) but before adding any usable fuel for the flight. This means you start with the Basic Empty Weight (the aircraft’s fixed structure and installed equipment, including unusable fuel) and then add the payload, with no usable fuel included. That’s why the correct description is BEW plus payload, excluding usable fuel. Fuel is counted later when calculating takeoff weight, since it changes the total significantly and is not part of the zero-fuel consideration.