Definition
A United States federal law that transferred federal civil aviation responsibilities from the Department of Commerce to a new independent agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The Act gave this authority power to regulate airline fares, set routes, investigate accidents, and oversee the safety and economic structure of civil aviation in the United States.
Plain English
A 1938 U.S. law that took control of civilian flying away from the Department of Commerce and handed it to a new dedicated agency, which then made the rules about who could fly what routes, what they could charge, and how safety was managed.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation history discussions explaining how U.S. aviation regulation developed before the modern FAA.
Derivation
Civil refers to non-military aviation. Aeronautics comes from the Greek 'aer' (air) and 'nautikos' (relating to ships or sailing) -- literally 'sailing through the air.' So the title simply means 'a law about non-military flying.'
Why Pilots Care
The act created the regulatory foundation that evolved into today’s FAA, directly shaping pilot certification, aircraft airworthiness standards, and operational rules still in use.
Intuition Check
Do not read “civil” here as meaning polite behavior. In this aviation context, “civil” means non-military aviation.
Example Sentence 1
The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 marked the point at which U.S. aviation oversight was given to its own dedicated agency rather than being handled as one part of general commerce.
Example Sentence 2
Understanding the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 helps explain why pilots today must follow standardized certification and safety procedures.