Ride Share

[NESchutte]

Does anyone know if there is a program where pilots with an extra seat on their airplane can list a trip they are making soon and offer to take people that are also headed that way along with them? Or people could list trips and pilots could offer to take them? Kind of like a car-pool but a plane-pool?

[AirportDude]

If you find anything worthwhile please post!

The Supreme Court has essentially shut-down any type of open-seat service offered by private pilots to non-pilots, since they've ruled that there is too much potential for "illegal" exchange of services (i.e. cash paid to the pilot for fuel expense, or other bartered services). Essentially, any pilot who doesn't have their Commercial rating cannot openly offer empty-seat flights to non-pilots.

NOW, if you yourself have a PPL, and have the same origination/destination as the PIC, you can technically share fuel costs since both are rated pilots and can share the piloting load while in flight. That doesn't legally hold true for a non-pilot passenger, unless the PIC is also a CFI and is logging training time with that passenger.

But the bottom line is essentially, NO, there isn't any good ride sharing site/service out there because of legal issues.

Perhaps Jeb or Dave could jump in here and better state what I'm attempting to say.

The Other Jeff

[Scofreyjet]

Yes, those who have attempted to openly provide such a service where they "hold themselves out" (a legal term) as a provider of flights have been shut down.

As far as sharing of costs goes, I've never heard the distinction between pilots and non-pilots made before. My understanding of it was that if a private pilot and another person found that they had mutual reason to be taking the same trip, this could be done and the passenger could pay his pro rata share of the flight costs. Essentially, in a light aircraft under these circumstances, if you're not the PIC, you're a passenger - regardless of certificates held, with exceptions for acting CFI.

What the private pilot can't do is advertise that they are taking a trip and will take passengers if they share the cost. This is "holding out" - leading another person to believe that you have an authority (in this case, to fly passengers for pay) that you do not have.

(I'm not a lawyer, but this is what I've come to believe after years of reading the legal interpretation columns in AOPA Pilot!)

[Boughton]

Yes, those who have attempted to openly provide such a service where they "hold themselves out" (a legal term) as a provider of flights have been shut down.

As far as sharing of costs goes, I've never heard the distinction between pilots and non-pilots made before. My understanding of it was that if a private pilot and another person found that they had mutual reason to be taking the same trip, this could be done and the passenger could pay his pro rata share of the flight costs. Essentially, in a light aircraft under these circumstances, if you're not the PIC, you're a passenger - regardless of certificates held, with exceptions for acting CFI.

What the private pilot can't do is advertise that they are taking a trip and will take passengers if they share the cost. This is "holding out" - leading another person to believe that you have an authority (in this case, to fly passengers for pay) that you do not have.

(I'm not a lawyer, but this is what I've come to believe after years of reading the legal interpretation columns in AOPA Pilot!)

That's kind of what I'm getting out of that as well.