What does "up in the air" mean?

Uncertain, undecided, or unresolved. If a plan is "up in the air," nothing has been confirmed yet, and it could go any direction. The image is of something floating, not grounded or settled. Think of a coin that has been tossed and is still spinning in the air before it lands. Until it comes down, nobody knows which way it will fall. That is exactly the feeling this idiom captures: a situation that hasn't come down to earth and been decided.

• "The meeting is still up in the air, we haven't confirmed the time."
• "My travel plans are up in the air right now."
• "The future of the project is up in the air since the budget review."
• "Where we'll live next year is completely up in the air."
• "Everything's up in the air until we hear back from the client."

Usually that a decision is coming but hasn't been made yet. It's not the same as cancelled, it means pending. There is often a slight sense that things could still change, so people use it when they want to be honest that nothing is fixed without sounding negative or final.

• "It's still uncertain," neutral and clear
• "We haven't decided yet," direct
• "It's still to be confirmed," formal, often abbreviated as "TBC"
• "It's pending," professional settings
• "It's in the air," shorter version, same meaning

Some learners say "it's up to the air" or "it's up on the air." Both are wrong. The correct preposition is "in," so it is always "up in the air." Be careful too not to confuse it with "on the air," which is a completely different idiom meaning that a radio or television broadcast is currently live and being transmitted. "The show is on the air" means it is broadcasting right now, while "the show is up in the air" means nobody knows if it will happen.

Picture your plans written on a piece of paper that a gust of wind has lifted into the sky. As long as the paper is floating up in the air, you cannot read it or act on it. It only becomes useful once it settles back on the table. When something is decided, we sometimes say the opposite: it is "settled," "nailed down," or "set in stone."

In casual conversation, "up in the air" sounds relaxed and friendly. You might tell a friend, "Our holiday's a bit up in the air at the moment." In the workplace it works too, but in very formal writing such as official reports or contracts, people often prefer "pending," "to be confirmed," or "not yet finalised." So you might say "up in the air" in a team chat but write "TBC" in an email or agenda.

This idiom is common and understood in both British and American English with the same meaning, so you can use it comfortably on either side of the Atlantic. Americans may lean slightly more on "pending" in business contexts, while British speakers happily use "up in the air" even in semi formal settings. Neither is wrong, and the idiom itself travels well.

Casual to professional. Common in everyday conversation and business settings when things are unresolved.

If you want another idiom for the same idea, try "in limbo," which describes being stuck in an uncertain, waiting state, as in "The deal is in limbo until they sign." You can also say a decision is "on hold" when it has been paused, or "hanging in the balance" when the outcome is uncertain and could go either way. Learning these together gives you a small family of phrases for talking about uncertainty, so you can vary your English and sound more natural.