14 CFR § 323.2 - Definitions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t14/s323.2"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "14 CFR § 323.2 - Definitions."
title_number: 14
title_name: "Aeronautics and Space"
section_number: "323.2"
section_name: "Definitions."
chapter_name: "OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (AVIATION PROCEEDINGS)"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "PROCEDURAL REGULATIONS"
part_number: "323"
part_name: "TERMINATIONS, SUSPENSIONS, AND REDUCTIONS OF SERVICE"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "49 U.S.C. Chapters 401, 411, 417."
regulatory_source: "Docket No. 82, 50 FR 2430, Jan. 16, 1985, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "323"
---


# 323.2 Definitions.

As used in this part:

*Certificated carrier* means a direct air carrier holding authority to provide air transportation granted by the Department in the form of a certificate of public convenience and necessity under 49 U.S.C. 41102 (Transportation) or an all-cargo air transportation certificate to perform all-cargo air transportation under 49 U.S.C. 41103.

*Eligible place* means a place in the United States that meets the specified criteria outlined in 49 U.S.C. Chapter 417.

*Essential air service* is that air transportation which the Department has found to be essential under Subchapter II of Chapter 417 of 49 U.S.C. Subtitle VII.

*FAA-designated hub* means any airport serving a small, medium, or large air traffic hub listed in the Department of Transportation publication, *Airport Activity Statistics of Certificated Route Carriers.*

*United States* includes the several States, the District of Columbia, and the several territories and possessions of the United States. *State* includes any of the individual entities comprising the United States.

[Doc. No. 82, 50 FR 2430, Jan. 16, 1985, as amended by Doc. No. OST-96-1269, 61 FR 19165, May 1, 1996; Doc. No. DOT-OST-2014-0140, 84 FR 15938, Apr. 16, 2019]