Crossword Genius

He is likely to resort to flight (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

airman

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

'he is likely to resort to flight' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'he is' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'he' could be 'man' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'man' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'air' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for airman that I've seen before include "Pilot" , "Marina (anag)" , "Male flyer" , "crew member" , "Flier" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.
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