Good news, everyone! A new service is developing, along the lines of Lyft and AirBnB for private flights. The start-up, AirPooler, matches up private pilots with customers to ferry them back and forth among small regional areas for prices that are competitive with commercial airlines. Granted, you probably won't be in the lavish luxury of a Gulfstream G650 (a.k.a. G6), but you'll get from point A to point B. So, how does the service work? Techcrunch has the answer:
Pilots choose a date and itinerary for a trip, say Palo Alto airport to South Lake Tahoe. They enter the type of plane, the number of available seats, and their pilot’s credentials and experience. AirPooler calculates the price per seat by dividing the total flight’s fuel, airport tax, and hangar cost by the number of passengers (pilot included). AirPooler lists the available seats and accompanying info on its site, and anyone can book a spot.Passengers choose from the available flights, enter their weight plus luggage, and a request is sent to the pilot. Once a pilot accepts, the passenger receives contact and arrival details for meeting the pilot at the airport.
Looking at the price listing in the Techcruch article and you'll notice that the prices are incredibly competitive for what they are: short notice, regional flights. Actually competitive, too, not $8,000 competitive! So, how does AirPooler keep the prices down? The answer may surprise you:
Law prohibits private pilots from profiting from passengers so you only pay for your share of the cost of the flight plus a 20 percent fee to AirPooler. The Federal Aviation Administration also bars private plane pilots from advertising flights, which is why AirPooler is careful to never promote any specific flights. It’s hired as its general council the former assistant chief council of regulation of the FAA to make sure it doesn’t break the law. “We’re confident that what we’re doing is legitimate”, AirPooler’s CEO and co-founder Steve Lewis tells me. If that’s true, only time will tell.
This could end up as something of a hitch in their plans. But, the company appears to have hired the right people to navigate the myriad pitfalls of FAA regs. I have high hopes for AirPooler.
What do you monkeys think? Would any of you west coast primates consider this service? If not, are you crazy? Airports suck.
Airports suck...but commercial flying is a helluva lot safer.
Not really. The vast majority of small plane accident are human error.
As are the majority of large plane accidents. What does the cause of accident have to do with the relative safety?
i am a private pilot. this start up will crash before it even takes off.
what makes you think this?
Interested in hearing your reasoning as well.
There are more crashes in small planes, because those pilots don't fly as often - it's not their day job. Do you see 16 year olds flying 747s? No.
Has nothing to do with size of the plane, small ones are actually safer and easier to fly. If the power goes out on a 747, hundreds of people will probably blow up on impact at 100-200mph. Power goes out in a Cessna, you glide into a tree at 40mph.
We drive 80 on sheets of ice, but are scared to get into planes with almost no chance of crashing. Thanks media.
The chance of an engine failure on modern jets are one in a few billion. Chance of double jet engine failure (or triple on 747 / a380) is almost impossible.
most recreational aircraft still use 1940's combustion engine technology. To say private recreational airplanes are safer is flat out false. Easier to fly? not necessarily. complexity of an airplane does not equate to ease of operation
I honestly just think flying in general is extremely safe, especially with what's required before takeoff. The public doesn't necessarily see it that way though.
safety is a bigger issue when flying, but we can probably all agree that the airline business need a kick in the butt.
This may work better with helicopters. Of course, the distance will be limited. I would totally be up for taking a ride in a Black Hawk and rappelling out right in front of the door of my office building.
If you are comparing a single engine prop plane to a commercial jet you are comparing apples to lead. You have to at least compare same engine classes.
Agreed. No shit that a single prop is less safe than a 747. I thought we were comparing jets here. Any mid-size to full-size double engine private jet is arguably just as safe as a commercial jet with two engines.
Also a private pilot and I feel this would be an unnecessary pain in the ass
Iure optio iste et. Aliquam ducimus ut in id officiis facere nulla. Quae saepe quasi reiciendis.
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