These enterprises became known as “Fixed Base Operators”. Many decided to settle down in permanent locations, and used their expertise to develop their own businesses offering aircraft maintenance services, fueling and pilot training. With increasing pressure for pilots to be properly trained and licensed, the traveling airmen were forced to end their nomadic existence. This key piece of legislation introduced new flight safety rules and requirements for regular, documented aircraft maintenance. The 1926 Air Commerce Act brought greater regulation to the fledgling civil aviation industry. Traveling “Flying Circuses” performed a variety of death-defying aerial stunts across America. Groups of pilots would often travel together as “Flying Circuses”, bringing aerial entertainment from town to town. These makeshift bases on the outskirts of towns served as America’s original independent airfields, with pilots making money by offering airplane rides and flying lessons to the public. Most aircraft would land in places such as farmer’s fields, where the operators would set up a temporary camp. The majority of private airmen were either “barnstormers” (traveling stunt pilots who performed tricks for entertainment) or transient pilots flying between cities, usually in low-budget military-surplus bi-planes.
Following the First World War, civil aviation was virtually unregulated in the country. The phrase “Fixed Base Operator” originates from the United States. The majority of people involved in the industry will be aware these letters stand for “Fixed Base Operator”, but what does this really mean, and what makes an exceptional FBO? Read on to find out. The term “FBO” has become one of the most widely-used acronyms in Business Aviation.
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