NEW RULES AT A GLANCE
• The changes apply to non-complex aeroplanes and helicopters, sailplanes and balloons, any aeroplane or helicopter that falls below the EASA definition of complex aircraft, which most GA type aeroplanes up to 5700kgs do.
• The maximum number of people who can share the direct costs of a flight has been increased from four to six, including the pilot.
• Direct costs include fuel, airfield charges and any aircraft rental fee.
• Any costs not directly related to the flight, for example the annual cost of keeping, maintaining and operating an aircraft, cannot be shared and no profit can be made.
• How much each individual person pays is not prescribed, but the pilot must pay something.
• Flights can be advertised in advance, but it must be made clear that it is a cost-sharing flight; it is an offence to advertise the sale of a public or commercial air transport flight without having an Air Operator’s Certificate.
• Both EASA and non-EASA aircraft, including those on a Permit to Fly can be used, although if the aircraft is being hired for the flight, it must have either a Certificate of Airworthiness or be a type- approved Permit to Fly aircraft which is already permitted to be used for self-fly hire within the terms of the relevant exemptions.
• Pilots of aircraft on a Permit to Fly need to comply with the regulations and apply for any necessary permission from any territory outside the London and Scottish Flight Information Regions (FIRs) over/within which they intend to operate. This includes Jersey, Guernsey and the IoM and they should ensure that they have the permission of the relevant authority.
• Full details of what’s permitted can be found at
caa.co.uk/General- aviation/Aircraft-ownership-and- maintenance/Cost-sharing-flights/
• You can read EASA’s rules at
www.easa.europa.eu
Distractions an issue?
medical and currency should be checked for validity before they can join any of the schemes. In some cases, those with up to 100
hours total time are restricted to flying people to and from the departure airfield (the home airfield effectively) only. With more than 100 hours pilots can do A-B flights, but there still might be further restrictions on what they can do by the online platforms. So what about the vagaries of the
weather and the pressure that pilots might feel because they aren’t used to flying people they’ve never met before? It’s crucial to understand that these
flights are designed to be for leisure only, they aren’t an air taxi service (despite some of what’s been written in the press…) and pilots have the absolute right to cancel a flight even when in the air, whether that’s down to the weather or for any other reason – there should be no commercial incentive for a pilot to fly. Emeric de Waziers, a Co-founder of the
booking site Wingly, says it’s made very clear that a flight can be cancelled at any time due to weather or for other reasons. When booking with his company, for example, a pop-up warns people that there’s a 50/50 chance of the flight being cancelled. Pilots and passengers are put in touch with each other so that they can ‘meet’ each other and be aware of anything
8 CLUED UP Summer 2018
that might affect the flight; there should be a conversation 48 hours beforehand between the pilot and passenger. To ease any pressures, both parties should be aware that if a flight is cancelled the passenger will get a refund. According to Wingly, out of 3,000 flights in the last 14 months there was only one turnaround in flight and that was weather-related. Weight and balance is, of course, another issue especially for lower powered aircraft, and one that people used to flying in commercial aircraft might not understand fully. Some of the sites ask people to enter their personal weight and the weight of any luggage when booking, but on the day it’s up to the pilot to check that all is as claimed. If there are any doubts they can cancel the flight there and then. When it comes to pre-flight briefing,
a note should be sent to prospective passengers before the day explaining where they should arrive at the airfield and what to expect then they get there. If airfields have ground rules such as yellow jackets and access requirements, it’s up to pilots to observe those for the passengers. While some people taking up these
offers will undoubtedly be interested in the technical aspects of their flight, anything safety related such as pre-flight checks should be done well before a passenger arrives to avoid distractions,
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