Lead: Part 110 is short, and it is not about drones. It is the definitions-and-general-requirements part that sits underneath the FAA's air-carrier certification rules. Knowing what it does explains why "Part 107 pilot" and "Part 121 pilot" describe two completely different worlds.

What Part 110 is

14 CFR Part 110, General Requirements, is the opening part of Subchapter G: Air Carriers and Operators for Compensation or Hire — Certification and Operations. It sets the definitions and general requirements the FAA applies to air carrier certificate holders and applicants.

It does not tell anyone how to fly. It establishes the frame that Part 119 uses to decide which operating rules apply to an operator — Part 121 for scheduled airline operations, Part 125, or Part 135 for commuter and on-demand operations.

Why it does not apply to your drone flights

Part 107 is a self-contained operating rule for small unmanned aircraft. You do not hold an air carrier certificate; you hold a remote pilot certificate. There is no Part 110 compliance item on a Part 107 flight, and nothing from Part 110 appears on the knowledge test.

That distinction is worth internalizing: Part 107 is an operating rule. Parts 110, 119 and 135 are a certification system. Different regulators inside the FAA, different paperwork, different economics.

When it starts to matter

  • Drone delivery at scale. The established delivery operators hold Part 135 air carrier certificates, which means the Part 119 certification process and the Part 110 definitions apply to them.
  • Anyone building a "drone airline." The definitions decide which operating part governs your service, and that decision shapes crew, maintenance and dispatch requirements.
  • Airlines running their own UAS programs. A Part 121 carrier's drone work is governed by Part 107 for the aircraft, while the carrier's own certificate obligations sit in Subchapter G.

What to take from it

Nothing to memorize for your certificate. File it as context: when your operation outgrows Part 107 — because you are carrying property for hire in a way that looks like an air carrier service, or you are contracting to a delivery network — the conversation moves into Part 119 and Part 135, and Part 110 is where those rules begin.

Bottom line

Part 110 is the on-ramp to air carrier certification, not a drone regulation. Your daily rule set is Part 107, with the compliance reference covering the federal, procurement and state layers around it.