Ah, the sharing economy. You can share rides to the office. You can shareapartments. You can even share boats. What you can’t share, though, is your airplane, should you be lucky enough to own one. TechCrunch reports that, per an FAA ruling released today, the new rules prohibit pilots “from publicly offering seats on their planes in exchange for gas money.” This will affect startups like Flytenow and Airpooler. The FAA addressed its statement to Airpooler, which requested legal clarification from the agency last month on whether it is running a legitimate business.
There will be no “ZimRide for airplanes”, according to an FAA ruling released today that prohibits private pilots from publicly offering seats on their planes in exchange for gas money, including via startups like AirPooler and Flytenow. The decision strikes a blow to the sharing economy, and comes in response to AirPooler formally requesting a clarification of the gray area it was operating in. Banning this form of planesharing (like ridesharing for aircraft) could keep people safe by preventing them from hopping in with rookie pilots. However, it will also make it more expensive for pilots to fly since they can’t share costs, reduce travel options for passengers, and kill off an entire category of startups. AirPooler plans to ask for a clarification of the ruling, as it’s based on an unofficial draft for a 1963 proposal for planesharing, rather than the 1964 regulation that said pilots can privately ask if passengers want to join them and split costs if pilots paid their pro-rata share, we’re already planning the flight, and met some other restrictions.