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Date: Nov 7, 2021
Subject: Jim's definition of General Aviation
Hi, Jack.
Ep. 1038 got me going. Sorry!
Here's my definition of GA. Just Jim's definition, without
reference to FARs or AOPA or anything authoritative. Just me.
I agree with your definition, Jack. GA is everything except
military and scheduled airline service.
Now I'm going to cover some of the distinctions and gray areas
because I clearly have nothing better going on this evening.
The distinction between GA and non-GA has nothing to do with
"commerce" so I don't use the word "commercial" in my definition.
There are commercial activities in GA (charter, training,
sightseeing, blah blah) and there are commercial activities in
non-GA (airlines).
I don't use airplane size as a determinant either. There are big
airplanes in GA and there are really small airplanes in scheduled
airline service.
As an example, and perhaps a departure from Jeb's view, I
think that the Cape Air airline runs scheduled airline service using
small airplanes. That's not a GA charter operation.
To dispute another example, if Delta puts one of their 737s into
charter service (e.g. professional sports team transport), then it's
a charter and should be thought of as GA, and not scheduled airline
service, regardless of the charter operator's op specs or FARs or
airplane size/weight.
If you can walk up to the ticket counter and buy a single ticket for
a single seat on a scheduled flight without prior affiliation with the
airline, then it's scheduled airline service. If you have to know or
be affiliated with the charterer, then it's a charter and that's GA.
Just to hash this out, you can't buy a ticket on a sports team
charter or a corporate flight, even if these flights are
"scheduled." Some charter operators will "sell" single seats, but
you have to be a "member" or somehow affiliated with the charterer
first. Charter operators who have opened up single-seat sales on
"scheduled" charter flights to the public have gotten into trouble
by crossing the line from charter to airline service.
Sightseeing flights smell like scheduled airline service, but
they are an odd exception because they're required to land where they
took off, and so they don't offer transport. They're GA.
A simplistic (and perhaps imperfect) tool for figuring out the
difference between GA charter and airline service is this: Can the
entity paying for the flight decide where the airplane goes and
when it goes there?
Another type of aviation that I will put into GA is civilian
airplanes operated by (or for) government agencies. If the local
sheriff or police dept. leases a plane and hires a pilot, they're
still operating under what I call GA. They're probably under part 91
(not my only definition) and they're using the same planes, pilots,
methods, and resources that we do. They're clearly neither scheduled
airlines, nor military. Pipeline patrol operated by a private
company vs. highway patrol by law enforcement: same planes, same
pilots, same rules, same infrastructure, same training, just
different payer. And the payer says where and when. So both GA.
I may be wrong, but that's Jim's definition.
Can we distinguish between civilian GA and government GA? Sure, go
for it. But both are under the GA umbrella.
Even some military may be GA.
Active duty military ops, including not only combat but also routine
training, run under military rules. Those are clearly not GA. But if
the Army charters an airplane (type doesn't matter) to transport
personnel or goods, and the charter is civilian-operated, then it's
a charter and it's GA. Even if the passengers are active duty
soldiers on orders.
If the military transports civilian government officials on military
equipment operated by active duty military pilots using military
procedures, then it's military, and not GA. Air Force One is
military; the FAA's planes are not.
Space flight? Mostly GA. Unless it's a military flight operated by
the military for military purposes, it's GA because it's civilian.
Yes the military "charters" (probably not the right word here) space
launches for their equipment, but they're operated by private
industry under contract, and by civilian personnel, so these are GA
flights. The time will come when we'll have scheduled airline
service in space, but for now most space flight is GA with some
little bit of military thrown in.
Perhaps I haven't covered every gray area, and this isn't perfect,
but that's my take on it.
Jim