AirPooler – Lyft for airplanes? Or how to win a free T-shirt

Here is an interesting piece of news. AirPooler is trying to do for private planes what Lyft or similar carsharing sites have done for cars.

I am taking guesses for how long they survive till the FAA shuts them down. The person who guesses the number of days correctly gets a free T Shirt.

Meanwhile try to list the various regulations that would be broken…

Excerpt from their announcement:

Here’s how AirPooler works. 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. After the flight, any unforseen costs such as fuel for idling on the runway are added, and the passenger’s payment details on file are charged.

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.

For more see http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/02/airpooler/