Air work is considered any specialized commercial aviation operation that does not include air transport operation.
They are those aircraft operations in which it applies to specialized services such as agriculture, construction, photography, plane-raising, observation and patrol, search and rescue, aerial advertisements, etc…
All these activities require specialized and highly qualified professionals, and in some of them, they enhance important social work, such as firefighting or rescue and rescue.
These work activities are little-explored workplaces, but they provide many jobs.
To give us an idea, in the United States this type of aviation generates about 1% of the country’s GDP. There are more than 17000 public airports, and of these only 600 are commercial aviation operators. The remaining ones serve only general aviation.
Here are some of the main airwork activities:
Emergencies and health flights:
Helicopter healthcare is one of the main activities in the sector. It aims to transfer and care for the injured or sick. In the United States, an estimated health emergency is every 604 flights.
Firefighting:
This is another great activity in the sector. These are flights that target firefighting. Naturally, it is an activity with a high seasonality.
Forest fires have been with us for centuries, but the expansion of developments and housing in our forests, as well as the increase in human influence and climate change, contribute to their proliferation.
The aircraft are incorporated into the wildfire fighting in the mid-1960s, but it is not until 1970 when the first units arrive in Spain, thus providing a new and effective resource for the fight against fires in places difficult to access for the ground units.
Agricultural works:
They are engaged in chemical treatments against agricultural pests, dosing insecticides or fungicides.
By definition, agricultural work is carried out with aircraft equipped with ground loading tanks, whether liquids or solids and those carried out at low altitude, making the distribution as homogeneously as possible for optimal application.
It should be noted that forest firefighting work does not fall under the agricultural work chapter, although companies in both sectors share in many cases these two types of operations.
Observation and patrol flights:
This type of aviation performs wildlife monitoring, control and cleaning of power lines, fisheries inspection, forest mass observation or atmospheric study.
Rescue and rescue:
As the name suggests, this type of operation is dedicated to the evacuation of people or animals in areas that are difficult to access, either at sea or in the mountains.
This includes Salvamento Marítimo, which also aims to ensure permanent maritime traffic and environmental protection.
Other not-so-frequent activities could include photography and aerial filming, air advertising or tourist flights.
Pilot Training Schools:
The professional pilot’s license obtained at EAS Barcelona, one of the most complete pilot schools that can be found today, either through modular courses or integrated course allows access to both General Aviation and other sectors work for which solid pilot training is required.