Definition
A United States federal law that removed government control over commercial airline routes, fares, and market entry, transferring those decisions from the Civil Aeronautics Board to the airlines themselves and to market forces. The Act preserved federal authority over aviation safety, which remained with the FAA, but ended the era in which the government decided which airlines could fly which routes and what they could charge.
Plain English
A 1978 law that let airlines decide for themselves where to fly and what to charge, instead of the government deciding for them. Safety rules stayed under the FAA, but the business side of flying was opened up to competition.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA history discussions explaining how the FAA’s safety role continued while airline business rules changed.
Derivation
‘Deregulation’ comes from the Latin ‘regula,’ meaning a rule or straight stick used as a measure. To ‘deregulate’ is to remove the rules. Knowing this makes the Act’s purpose clear: it removed economic rules that had governed airline behavior since 1938.
Why Pilots Care
The act increased airline competition, which influenced pilot hiring patterns, compensation, and career stability throughout the following decades.
Intuition Check
Deregulation does not mean “no rules.” Here it means fewer federal business controls on airlines, while safety rules still remained in force.
Example Sentence 1
Before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, an airline could not simply add a new route between two cities; it had to apply to the government for permission.
Example Sentence 2
Many senior pilots began their careers after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 opened the industry to greater competition.