Estar en el aire

to be up in the air; **to be up in the air**; **to be uncertain**; **to be unresolved**; **to be hanging in the balance**; **to remain undecided**

Estar en el aire means to be uncertain, to be up in the air, to be unresolved, to be undecided, or to be hanging in the balance.

It refers to plans, decisions or situations whose outcome is still unknown.

• a decision has not yet been made
• a project may or may not happen
• negotiations are still ongoing
• the future of something is uncertain
• nobody knows what will happen next

The metaphor is straightforward.

Something suspended in the air has not yet landed or found a stable position.

From this physical image, Spanish developed the figurative meaning of uncertainty and lack of resolution.

The expression has been used for centuries and remains one of the most common ways of expressing uncertainty.

The expression is especially common in news reports about:

• politics,
• sport,
• business,
• employment,
• and personal plans.

It often introduces a sense of suspense, suggesting that the final outcome will only become clear later.

Spanish has several expressions for uncertainty:

• Estar en el aire → to be up in the air.
• Estar por ver → to remain to be seen.
• Pendiente de decisión → pending a decision.
• No estar nada claro → not to be clear at all.

Among them, estar en el aire is by far the most idiomatic and versatile, applying equally well to personal plans, political negotiations, sporting events and business decisions.

Unlike many Spanish idioms, this one has a direct English equivalent.

Possible translations include:

• It's up in the air.
• It's still uncertain.
• It's unresolved.
• It's hanging in the balance.

Choose the translation according to the context.