Fixed-base Operator - History of The Term

History of The Term

After the end of World War I in November 1918, civil aviation in the United States was primarily unregulated and was primarily made up of "Barnstormers" or transient pilots operating inexpensive military surplus aircraft from city-to-city, often landing in farm fields on the outskirts of a town as airports were scarce at that time. These traveling aviators offered airplane rides, aerobatic flight demonstrations, and frequently collaborated as "Flying Circuses" and performed impromptu airshows for the townsfolk, charging whatever the local economic conditions would allow. As a result, mechanics and early flight instructors moved around with the aircraft and had no established business in any one location.

With passage of the Air Commerce Act of 1926 and its resulting requirements in the licensing of pilots, aircraft maintenance requirements, and regulations in training standards, the transient nature of civil aviation was curtailed. The pilots and mechanics who made their living on the road, began establishing permanent businesses, termed Fixed-Base Operations at the growing number of airports appearing throughout the United States as a way to distinguish permanent businesses from the transient businesses common prior to 1926.