Definition
The repositioning of an aircraft, or the carriage of a flight crew as passengers, when no revenue payload (passengers or cargo) is being carried. The flight or crew movement is necessary for operational reasons but does not itself generate income.
Plain English
A flight, or a crew ride, that earns no money. The airplane is being moved, or the crew is being sent somewhere, just to get into position for the next paying job.
Context Anchor
Seen in airline scheduling, crew duty, rest planning, and company travel records.
Derivation
From the old transport term 'deadhead', meaning a vehicle running empty. 'Dead' here means 'not earning' (no live freight or paying passengers), not 'broken' or 'unsafe'. The phrase carried over from railways and trucking into aviation.
Why Pilots Care
It counts toward or affects flight duty periods, rest requirements, and overall scheduling under FAA regulations.
Intuition Check
Deadhead does not mean the crew member is careless, inactive, or unqualified. It means they are riding as a passenger for company scheduling purposes, not working that flight.
Example Sentence 1
After dropping the charter group in Aspen, the crew flew the jet deadhead back to Denver to pick up the next trip.
Example Sentence 2
After completing his last leg, the pilot used deadhead transportation to return to his home base for rest.