Definition
The carriage of persons or property by aircraft for compensation or hire, or the operation of aircraft in furtherance of a business, between any place in one U.S. state and any place in another U.S. state, or between places in the same state by way of a place outside that state. It also includes such operations between a U.S. state and the District of Columbia or any U.S. territory or possession.
Plain English
Flying that crosses state lines as part of a business, whether you are carrying passengers or cargo for pay or just flying the company airplane to a meeting in another state.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation regulations and legal discussions about what kinds of flying fall under federal aviation rules.
Derivation
‘Interstate’ comes from Latin inter (between) and stat- (state). ‘Commerce’ comes from Latin commercium, meaning trade or business dealings. Together the phrase means ‘business activity that crosses state lines’ — which is exactly its legal meaning in aviation.
Why Pilots Care
Whether a flight counts as interstate air commerce affects which federal regulations apply, what certifications are required, and how the operation is treated legally. A flight that seems local can still be interstate commerce if it supports an interstate business or routes through another state.
Intuition Check
Do not assume interstate air commerce only means an airline flight from one state to another. In this legal use, it can also include business-related flying, carrying mail, or a same-state flight that passes through airspace outside that state.
Example Sentence 1
Because the company plane regularly flew employees from Ohio to a job site in Pennsylvania, the operation was considered interstate air commerce.
Example Sentence 2
A company authorized for interstate air commerce can fly passengers between California and Nevada for hire.