Licensed pilot Samuel Brozina explains civil aviation, one of the two main categories of flying, both commercial and private.
Representing all non-military air travel, the civil category of aviation includes both private and commercial flying. A licensed pilot from Millville, NJ, Samuel Brozina, a lifelong aviation enthusiast and the proud owner of an ERCO Ercoupe classic low-wing monoplane aircraft, explains more about the practice.
“Civil aviation represents all non-military aviation, both commercial and private, and is one of the two main categories of flying, both in the U.S. and internationally,” explains Millville, NJ-based pilot Samuel Brozina.
Most countries, he goes on to reveal, are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization. “Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization work together,” adds the expert, “to establish recommended practices and common standards for civil aviation across the board.”
According to Brozina, civil aviation features two primary categories – scheduled air transport, and what’s known as general aviation. Scheduled air transport, he says, includes all passenger and cargo flights that operate on scheduled routes. “General aviation, meanwhile,” Brozina reveals, “includes all other civil flights, whether private or commercial in nature.”
Interestingly, general aviation represents the larger category, both in terms of the number of flights and the number of flight hours in the U.S. currently. This, says Brozina, is despite scheduled air transport being significantly larger, as an operation, when considering individual passenger numbers. “In the U.S.,” reveals the expert, “general aviation carries approximately 165 million passengers annually – more than any one individual airline.”
Overall, however, U.S. airlines, when combined, routinely carry in excess of 600 million passengers each year, according to Brozina. “Still, it remains, though,” he adds, “that general aviation is the larger category in terms of the number of individual flights, and pilot flight hours.”
Further to distinguishing between commercial and private, some countries make an additional regulatory distinction based on whether an aircraft is flown for hire or not. “Commercial aviation represents essentially all flying completed for hire,” Brozina explains. Private aviation, meanwhile, he notes, typically extends solely to pilots flying for their own purposes, such as recreation or for personal travel, and wholly without receiving any form of financial compensation as a result.
“While general aviation can be either commercial or private, all scheduled air transport is deemed commercial,” adds Millville, NJ-based pilot Samuel Brozina, wrapping up, “and any pilot, aircraft, or operator completing scheduled or commercial air transport must be authorized to perform such operations via the necessary licensing, registration, and certification.”
