328.1  Definitions.
  1.  The following words, terms, and phrases when used in this chapter shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meanings given in this section, unless otherwise specifically defined, or unless another intention clearly appears, or the context otherwise requires:
  a.  “Aeronautics” means transportation by aircraft, the operation, construction, repair, or maintenance of aircraft, aircraft power plants and accessories, including the repair, packing, and maintenance of parachutes, the design, establishment, construction, extension, operation, improvement, repair, or maintenance of landing areas, or other air navigation facilities, and air instruction.
  b.  “Aeronautics instructor” means any individual giving or offering to give instruction, in aeronautics, either in flying or ground subjects, or both, for hire or reward.
  c.  “Air carrier airport” means an existing public airport regularly served by an air carrier, other than a supplemental air carrier, certificated by the civil aviation board under section 401 of the federal Aviation Act of 1958.
  d.  “Aircraft” means any contrivance now known, or hereafter invented, used or designed for navigation of or flight in the air, for the purpose of transporting persons or property, or both.
  e.  “Air instruction” means the imparting of aeronautical information, by any aeronautics instructor, or in or by any air school or flying club.
  f.  “Air navigation” means the operation or navigation of aircraft in the air space over this state, or upon any landing area within this state.
  g.  “Air navigation facility” means any facility, other than one owned or controlled by the federal government, used, available for use, or designed for use, in aid of air navigation, including landing areas, and any structures, mechanisms, lights, beacons, markers, communicating systems, or other instrumentalities or devices having a similar purpose for guiding or controlling flight in the air or the landing and take-off of aircraft.
  h.  “Airperson” means any individual who engages, as the person in command, or as pilot, mechanic, or member of the crew, in the navigation of aircraft while under way and any individual who is directly in charge of the inspection, maintenance, overhauling, or repair of aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, aircraft appliances, or parachutes; and any individual who serves in the capacity of aircraft dispatcher or air-traffic control-tower operator. It shall not include individuals engaged in aeronautics as an employee of the United States or any state or foreign country and any individuals employed by a manufacturer of aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, or appliances to perform duties as inspector or mechanic in connection therewith, and any individual performing inspection or mechanical duties in connection with aircraft owned or operated by the individual.
  i.  “Airport” means any landing area used regularly by aircraft for receiving or discharging passengers or cargo, and all appurtenant areas used or suitable for airport buildings or other airport facilities, and all appurtenant rights-of-way, whether heretofore or hereafter established. “Airport” includes land within a city with a population greater than one hundred seventy-five thousand which is acquired to replace or mitigate land used in an airport runway project at an existing airport when federal law, grant, or action requires such replacement or mitigation.
  j.  “Air school” means any person engaged in giving, or offering to give, instruction, in aeronautics, either in flying or ground subjects, or both, for hire or reward, and who employs other persons for such purposes. It does not include any public school or university of this state, or any institution of higher learning duly accredited and approved for carrying on collegiate work.
  k.  “Air taxi operator” means an operator who engages in the air transportation of passengers, property, and mail by aircraft on public demand for compensation and does not directly or indirectly utilize aircraft with a capacity of more than thirty passengers or seventy-five hundred pounds maximum payload, unless exempted by the aeronautics and public transit administrator of the department.
  l.  “Civil aircraft” means any aircraft other than a public aircraft.
  m.  “Commission” means the state transportation commission of the state department of transportation.
  n.  “Commuter air carrier” means an air taxi operator which operates not less than five round trips per week between two or more points and publishes flight schedules which specify the times, days of the week, and places between which such flights are performed or transports mail pursuant to a current contract with the United States postal service.
  o.  “Department” means the state department of transportation.
  p.  “Director” means the director of transportation or the director’s designee.
  q.  “General aviation airport” means any airport that is not an air carrier airport.
  r.  “Governmental subdivision” means any county or city of this state, and any other political subdivision, public corporation, authority, or district in this state which is or may be authorized by law to acquire, establish, construct, maintain, improve, and operate landing areas and other air navigation facilities.
  s.  “Landing area” means any locality, either of land or water, including intermediate landing fields, which is used or intended to be used, for the landing and take-off of aircraft, whether or not facilities are provided for the shelter, servicing, or repair of aircraft, or for receiving or discharging passengers or cargo; it does not include any intermediate landing field established or maintained by the federal government as a part of any civil airway.
  t.  “Operation for hire” shall mean hire to the general public or members or classes thereof, and shall not include such operations as are incidental to the carrying on of the general business of an aircraft owner engaged in business other than aeronautics.
  u.  “Operation of aircraft” or “operate aircraft” means the use of aircraft for the purpose of air navigation, and includes the navigation or piloting of aircraft and shall embrace any person who causes or authorizes the operation of aircraft, whether with or without the right of legal control, in the capacity of owner, lessee, or otherwise.
  v.  “Owner” means a person owning or renting an aircraft, or having the exclusive use of an aircraft, for a period of more than thirty days.
  w.  “Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association, or body politic; and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other similar representative thereof.
  x.  “Public aircraft” means an aircraft used exclusively in the service of any government or of any political subdivision thereof, including the government of any state, territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, but not including any government-owned aircraft engaged in carrying persons or property for commercial purposes.
  2.  The singular shall include the plural, and the plural the singular.
[C31, 35, §8338-c1; C39, §8338.14; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §328.1]
88 Acts, ch 1063, §1; 2005 Acts, ch 178, §11; 2010 Acts, ch 1069, §113; 2015 Acts, ch 29, §46; 2023 Acts, ch 66, §79
Referred to in §6A.21, 423.3