An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which they both offer and operate the same flight. Generally, airline companies are recognized with an air operating certificate or license issued by a governmental aviation body. Airlines may be scheduled or charter operators.
The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Board's powers of regulation were phased out, but the regulatory powers of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were not diminished over all aspects of aviation safety.
Airport security includes the techniques and methods used in an attempt to protect passengers, staff, aircraft, and airport property from malicious harm, crime, terrorism, and other threats.
The Montreal Convention is a multilateral treaty adopted by a diplomatic meeting of ICAO member states in 1999. It amended important provisions of the Warsaw Convention's regime concerning compensation for the victims of air disasters. The Convention attempts to re-establish uniformity and predictability of rules relating to the international carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo. Whilst maintaining the core provisions which have served the international air transport community for several decades, the treaty achieves modernization in a number of key areas. It protects passengers by introducing a two-tier liability system that eliminates the previous requirement of proving willful neglect by the air carrier to obtain more than US$75,000 in damages, which should eliminate or reduce protracted litigation.
A passenger name record (PNR) is a record in the database of a computer reservation system (CRS) that contains the itinerary for a passenger or a group of passengers travelling together. The concept of a PNR was first introduced by airlines that needed to exchange reservation information in case passengers required flights of multiple airlines to reach their destination ("interlining"). For this purpose, IATA and ATA have defined standards for interline messaging of PNR and other data through the "ATA/IATA Reservations Interline Message Procedures - Passenger" (AIRIMP). There is no general industry standard for the layout and content of a PNR. In practice, each CRS or hosting system has its own proprietary standards, although common industry needs, including the need to map PNR data easily to AIRIMP messages, has resulted in many general similarities in data content and format between all of the major systems.
Houghton County Memorial Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Calumet, a village in Houghton County, Michigan, United States. The airport is situated in the unincorporated community of Oneco in Franklin Township, near the village of Calumet on the Keweenaw Peninsula in northwest of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A limited scheduled commercial service is available, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. In addition, Royale Air Service provides a seaplane service to Isle Royale National Park depending on traveler demand.
Athens–Ben Epps Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Athens, a city in Clarke County, Georgia, United States. The airport is named after Ben T. Epps, the first aviator in the state of Georgia, who opened the airport in 1917. It is mostly used for general aviation, though it was formerly served by one commercial airline with scheduled passenger service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
Sioux Gateway Airport, also known as Colonel Bud Day Field, is a public and military use airport in Woodbury County, Iowa, United States. It is located six nautical miles south of the central business district of Sioux City, just west of Sergeant Bluff. On May 25, 2002, the airport was named in honor of United States Air Force Colonel George Everette "Bud" Day, a Sioux City, Iowa native who is the only person ever awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross.
Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is to maintain a minimal level of scheduled air service to these communities that otherwise would not be profitable. The program is codified at 49 U.S.C. §§ 41731–41748.
The Flight Compensation Regulation is a regulation in EU law establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellations, or long delays of flights. It requires compensation of €250 to €600 depending on the flight distance for delays over of at least three hours, cancellations, or being denied boarding from overbooking. Delays shorter than three hours means no entitlement to any compensation of any kind even if the delay was classified as non-extraordinary. Airlines must provide refreshments and accommodation where appropriate. The Court of Justice of the European Union has interpreted passenger rights strictly, so that there are virtually no exceptions for airlines to evade their obligations for breach of contract.
An airline ticket is a document or electronic record, issued by an airline or a travel agency, that confirms that an individual is entitled to a seat on a flight on an aircraft. The airline ticket may be one of two types: a paper ticket, which comprises coupons or vouchers; and an electronic ticket.
The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) is Title 49, Section 41705 of the U.S. Code. The Act amended the earlier section 404(b) of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (FAA), which was repealed by the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The ACAA prohibits commercial airlines from discriminating against passengers with disabilities. The act was passed by the U.S. Congress in direct response to a narrow interpretation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) v. Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). In PVA, the Supreme Court held that private, commercial air carriers are not liable under Section 504 because they are not "direct recipients" of federal funding to airports.
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees, and the general public. The certificate will list the aircraft types, and registrations to be used, for what purpose and in what area – specific airports or geographic region.
Dogs are the most common service animals, assisting people in many different ways since at least 1927. Various definitions exist for a service animal, but typically the term "service animal" alludes specifically to the Americans with Disabilities Act, where it specifies a dog specially trained to perform some service to assist its owner with a disability.
An emotional support animal (ESA) is an animal that provides relief to individuals with "psychiatric disability through companionship." Emotional support animals may be any type of pet, and are not recognized as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Pet shipping is an industry that involves transporting animals, specifically pets, often by plane. This service is commonly used when the animal's owner is moving house. However, it can also be used when transporting animals for other reasons, such as performing in dog shows. The worldwide industry body for pet shipping is the International Pet and Animal Transportation Association. Pet microchips, vaccinations, rabies titre tests, import permits, and health certificates may be required to ship an animal. Certain breeds are banned from the process due to the increase in associated risk.
The United States has an extensive air transportation network. In 2013, there were 86 airports in the U.S. that annually handled over 1,000,000 passengers each and eight of the world's thirty busiest airports by passenger volume in 2020 were in the U.S., including the world's second busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In 2012, 88% of all traffic was through the 62 busiest airports in the country. In terms of cargo, in 2015, eight of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's second busiest, Memphis International Airport, behind only Hong Kong International Airport in China. Private aircraft are also used for medical emergencies, government agencies, large businesses, and individuals, see general aviation.
A flight delay is when an airline flight takes off and/or lands later than its scheduled time. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers a flight to be delayed when it is 15 minutes later than its scheduled time. A cancellation occurs when the airline does not operate the flight at all for a certain reason.
The European Union Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) legislation is intended to ensure that Persons with Reduced Mobility traveling via public transport, whether by air, land or sea, should have equal access to travel as compared to travelers with unrestricted mobility. Travel providers are compelled to provide and install sufficient access facilities to enable Passenger with Reduced Mobility to enjoy similar access to other passengers.
A no-show is a condition when an expected person does not arrive or appear somewhere they were expected to be. In aviation, no-show is when a ticketed passenger doesn't show up for their flight. Such passenger are also sometimes called a no-show.
