Airline

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɛəˌlaɪn/

Definitions

1. A company that provides scheduled air transportation services for passengers and cargo using aircraft
2. An organization specializing in the transport of individuals and goods via air travel, utilizing various types of aircraft for scheduled flights
3. A commercial entity that operates flights to move passengers and freight through the air, employing a fleet of aircraft on regular routes

Etymology: "Airline" is a plain compound of "air" and "line," the sort of word that describes exactly what it does. The "line" in question is the older sense of a regular course or route, the same sense found in "shipping line" or "railway line," where a company runs vessels or trains along a set path. Joined to "air," it names a company that keeps aircraft on fixed routes, much as a steamship line kept ships on scheduled sailings before aviation existed. The compound is transparent enough that its meaning was clear from the start, and the word's history lies mostly in how it followed the industry it named. Airlines came to mean the business as well as the individual company, so "the airline" could refer to the whole field of air travel, a usage that tracks the growth of commercial flight in the twentieth century.

Synonyms: carrier, airline company, aviation company, flight service, aerial transportation