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FAA Bans 'Uber for Planes' Startups

posted by janrinok on Monday August 18 2014, @03:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the are-pilots-allowed-to-accept-'gifts'? dept.

AnonTechie writes about a TechCrunch story::

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.

 
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  • (Score: 1) by morpheus on Monday August 18 2014, @03:42PM

    by morpheus (1989) on Monday August 18 2014, @03:42PM (#82643)

    Pilot certificates do not expire in the US (unlike flight instructor certificates), so the only reason to have a certain number of hours flown is to maintain currency. Those requirements are rather mild though, unless you really would like to be proficient, not just satisfy the rules. Flying is expensive simply because so few people fly. There is nothing complicated in a modern airplane. A typical car probably has more sophisticated electronics and engine than a typical small airplane does. But cars are mass produced, and airplanes are essentially hand made (a thousand airplanes is a long production run) simply because the demand is so low. This will not change until the manufacturing methods improve so drastically that even custom airplane production is cheap. Another factor is a costly certification process for airplanes, I am not sure what can be changed there.