It wasn’t a big surprise that the Supreme Court turned down the Flytenow case, refusing the opportunity to review the FAA’s decision that Flytenow and similar flight-sharing websites are “holding out” as commercial passenger carriers and that participating pilots must therefore become certified under commercial operating regulations.
Many people think that flight-sharing ought to be able to happen in aviation, similar to how ride-sharing companies Uber, Lyft and others have disrupted the taxicab industry. There’s a big difference, however. Most people are used to driving cars and are comfortable with the risks of driving, and they see no perceptible difference between the safety of a car driven by an average (non-commercially licensed, it should be pointed out) Uber or Lyft driver and driving themselves or with another driver. The same is not true in aviation; very few people are pilots or used to flying in light airplanes and thus not familiar with the risks. Their only exposure to general aviation is through sensational news reports about accidents. In addition, FAA regulations have long prevented “unsuspecting” members of the public from paying to fly with non-commercially certified pilots or operations.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
