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The author's purpose in writing this article is to refine and expand our thoughts about the meaning of Section 2(b) of the Pilot's Bill of Rights, Pub. L. 112-153, August 3, 2012, 126 Stat. 1159 (hereinafter the "PBR").

AirPooler sponsors a website that connects pilots and passengers to save money over commercial fares with pilots saving money on the operation of their aircraft. Before the founders of AirPooler set up this program, they would have been well-advised to have conducted some basic research. This is not the first time a scheme of this nature has been attempted.

Brendan Schulman, Esq., with the firm of Kramer, Levin, Naftalis and Frankel, LLP in New York, has embarked on a headlong assault on the FAA’s policy restricting the operation of model aircraft and/or unmanned aircraft systems pursuant to a 2007 FAA Policy Statement published in the Federal Register. Schulman maintains the Policy Statement did not con-form with Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act and was not part of the formal rule making process.

Flight department companies are routinely employed as subsidiaries of parent corporations or holding companies. These flight department companies, financed by the parent corporations or holding companies, own, operate and maintain aircraft, employ the flight crew, and provide air transportation to employees and guests of parent and subsidiary corporations. These operations are typically conducted under Part 91 of the Federal Avia- tion Regulations (FARs) without an air carrier certificate.

For many years, it has been an accepted industry practice for pilots of experimental aircraft (especially warbirds) to provide one or more media flights to members of the press as part of the airshow appearance package. If the pilot of an experimental aircraft is going to provide a media ride, based upon the FAA’s position on this matter, it appears that this must not be part of the airshow appearance contract. The airshow pilot must bear the full costs of providing the flight, including the fuel and oil. The airshow pilot must not benefit from the flight nor should the sponsor of the airshow benefit from the flight. Again, the act of providing a media ride must not be included as part of the terms and provisions of an airshow appearance contract. The reasons for these conclusions will be discussed in the remainder of this article.