Crossword Genius

Flying first-class, carrying five people initially rejected (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aviation

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'flying' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'first-class carrying five people initially rejected' is the wordplay.
'first class' becomes 'A' (as in A-list, A-team etc).
'carrying five' becomes 'vi' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'people' becomes 'nation'.
'initially rejected' means to remove the first letter.
'nation' with its first letter taken away is 'ation'.
'a'+'vi'+'ation'='AVIATION'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aviation that I've seen before include "The business of flying aircraft" , "Aircraft operating business" , "The aircraft industry" , "The practice or science of flying aircraft" , "Air travel" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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