What is a hypernym for the ascending and descending legs of a flight? If an airline flight is everything that happens in between your starting and ending gates. What is the generic term for each time the plane ascends or descends during an air route? In layman terms, what terminology would define the four '_____?' equally as four separate things.



If the image below indicates the proper terminology for a flight. What is the hypernym for phase 3/4 and phase 6/7 of the air route?
Since a hyperonym can be a word or phrase, I'd go for a non-cruise airborne segment. Or N-CAS, as it'll be known from this moment in history.

The ICAO Common Taxonomy Team (pdf) doesn't have a term for it though.

From that document you can call 4, 5, and 6 (from your diagram) just en-route. And I don't see harm in expanding that term to include 3 and 7 as well (for the purposes of the question).

Also during cruise, some planes continue to climb in steps, it's called a step-climb. In that case you end up with multiple climb and cruise phases.

Which makes me think of stepping.

Officially there's no answer to your question, "en-route" fits in fine and is official, and "stepping" (up or down) would exclude the cruise as you requested, it works from a technical (albeit very broad) standpoint. But it can't be used officially or otherwise if you ask me.