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Comment by ShabbyDoo | Hacker News Reader

I'm interested in finding planes leaving from Cleveland to Chicago on Sunday/Monday and planes leaving from Chicago to Cleveland on Thursday or Friday. I'm flexible on airports. Furthermore, I don't even mind a seat on the floor (with a harness/seatbelt) -- I used to skydive a lot, so this seems like a reasonable and safe option. I know this isn't the purpose of your app, but I'm hoping there are options like Blackjet out there except they don't charge 5x the price of a Southwest flight. Ideally, I'd be happy to pay a private pilot in literal cash at the last minute for a seat on his plane. I'd win by getting to/from Chicago w/o fighting my way thru a major airport. They would win with up to $200 in their pockets for a flight they would be making anyway. Flying right seat would make it all the better :)

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Unless the pilot is commercially rated, the FAA mandates you have to pay a pro-rated share (50% in your scenario above). There's also the liability the pilot is taking on by having a passenger along. If there is an incident during the flight the pilot is most certainly going to be sued by you or your estate to recoup medical costs, compensation for negligence (most aircraft accidents come back on the pilot and not the plane), or compensation for death.

There have even been cases where pro-rata wasn't enough to defend the pilot against claims of commercial operation. The FAA also has a "common purpose" test they can apply, as well as restrictions on "holding out" (advertising yourself to the public).

In other words, as a private pilot, if I posted on this forum and said "I'll take you on a scenic flight and you pay half the cost" that would absolutely be a violation and the FAA could act on it, if they chose to.

Source: http://www.avweb.com/news/avlaw/186346-1.html

Excerpt: "Understanding the FAA's interpretation of compensation leads to the question of whether a pilot can simply volunteer his airplane and his piloting services to transport passengers to where they want to go, as long as the pilot pays no less than his pro-rata share of the flight expenses. ... FAA legal interpretations have been issued declaring that this arrangement may involve impermissible "compensation or hire." "

Interesting. I had presumed that the pilot would be violating some FAA rules, as I might be myself. If the pilot had a commercial rating, I presume the more costly maintenance requirements required of commercial carriers would apply here?

Correct. There are additional aircraft inspections, maintenance requirements, and additional pilot training required to operator as an "air taxi" (part 135) or other commercial operation.

Thanks for the link. I've been looking (for a while) for a deeper analysis of the regulation.

There are quite a few websites trying to be the #1 place for offering "empty legs" and other spare seats on corporate aircraft, not to mention bizjet operators and charter companies that have been doing it for a while. I have a feeling it's a market that's too fragmented and illiquid to easily become winner-takes-all though (it's difficult to attract a critical mass of users to a website that usually won't have the flight they want)

And I suspect the FAA would take a very dim view of people without commercial pilots' licenses taking cash payments for ferrying strangers they met on the internet. As might the IRS...

It's not enough to have a commercial rating, you also need to have a part 135 or part 121 cert for the operation, plane and pilot.

It is however legal to split the rental or fuel costs provided the pilot and passengers have a 'common purpose' in making the flight and it's not advertised as a commercial operation.

One problem I forsee about that idea is that if a pilot takes any more money than that person's share of the gas costs, they'll run into trouble.

Not sure if I am reading the web-site incorrectly -- they are talking about renting planes that you presumably fly yourself? Basically renting airplanes. Am I missing something?

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