As a Washington, D.C., court weighs the legality of posting flight sharing offers online, an Arizona Republican has introduced a bill that would compel the FAA to accept services like Flytenow. Flytenow, which hosted a website that allowed pilots to post their planned flights so prospective passengers could come along and pay a share of the expenses, was told by the FAA that their website was illegal. It’s legal for passengers in private aircraft to pay an equitable share of the fuel and other expenses on a flight but the FAA said opening that offer to the masses via a website wasn’t legal. Flytenow sued the FAA and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has heard both sides of the story and is deliberating. If the Aviation Cost and Expenses Sharing Act gains traction, however, the decision might be moot.
David Schweikert, R-Ariz., introduced the bill a month ago and it’s clearly aimed at the FAA’s interpretation of the current rules, which say that passengers are allowed to chip in for expenses. The summary of the bill is as follows: “This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration to issue or revise regulations to ensure that persons who hold a private pilot certificate may communicate with the public in cases where operating expenses of the flight are shared between the pilot and passengers.” The FAA contends broadcasting flight availability Uber-style is an abuse of the rule that allows passengers to buy up to half the gas. Flytenow says the FAA needs to keep up with the times. “It’s OK for pilots to post a written notice at an airport or a college campus with 10,000 students, but if they post the same message online, the FAA says no. Where do you draw the line?” Matt Voska of San Francisco, a private pilot and a cofounder of Flytenow, told the LA Times. “What we are doing is permissible.”
