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Flightsharing website closes due to court ruling
DC's Court of Appeals has decided to uphold the FAA's ban on flightsharing websites, forcing Flytenow to shut down indefinitely. If you recall, the FAA announced last year that it's not cool with services that connect amateur pilots that have no commercial licenses with passengers willing to pay for flights. One of those Uber-in-the-sky services called Flytenow asked the court to overturn the FAA's ban, but it has obviously failed to sway the judge in its favor.
Court says ridesharing for flights is illegal
If you had hopes that the FAA's ban on ridesharing flights would be reversed... well, you're in for a disappointment. A Washington, DC court has ruled that pilots need commercial licenses for these services to work. You're a carrier in that case, not just splitting expenses like the plaintiff (Flytenow) claimed -- and that means you need the "experience and credentials" to ferry passengers. If you want to fly cross-country without resorting to big airlines, you'll have to either charter a private flight or hope that a pilot friend will take you.[Image credit: Gordon Chibroski/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images]
Pilots banned from acting like Uber drivers in the sky
"You're going to Napa in your Cessna? Me too! If you let me hop in, I'll pay my share of the gas!" That arrangement is legal, but the FAA has declared that connecting brave passengers with amateur pilots for a fee is definitely a no-no. The ruling came from a request for clarification by a company called Airpooler, a small plane equivalent of UberX. That service and others like FlyteNow let private pilots post listings for flight dates and destinations, along with a corresponding fee. Thanks to a 1963 decision, such sharing is legal if done by word of mouth or a notice board, provided the pilot only asks for a fair share of the expenses. However, in a rather confusing letter, the regulator told Airpooler that its service violates the spirit of that ruling. Instead of offering a bonafide "joint venture with a common purpose," participating pilots are "holding out to transport passengers for compensation." That means unless you have a commercial ATP or CPL license, using those services is DOA. [Credit: Brianc/Flickr]
