My personal opinion is that this idea will never really work well, just because our kind of GA is too unreliable. Just look how many flights we postpone or cancel…and how much explaining is necessary because non-pilots do not understand all this. The only way I see is to get a passenger on a very short notice, like one day before the flight. But how many people are that flexible?
So is it clearly legal or not?
As far as I see in the UK and German responsible agencies it looks legal. In France the “DGAC” is causing trouble. Well, it’s France, though – but how’s it with the other European countries?
https://easa.europa.eu/document-library/regulations/commission-regulation-eu-no-9652012
This looks like a clear “Legal yes!” message.
In which way is the DGAC causing trouble?
http://www.air-cosmos.com/coavionnage-la-mise-en-garde-de-la-dgac-43215
They are saying those sites do advertisement (which is true) which makes flight sharing (co-avionnage) an illegal activity. I think this is very abstract. There is NO such problem in Germany.
More than 75% of the French air clubs are not brave enough to let their pilots fly co-avionnage as they fear insurance problems IF an accident happens. This is only because the DGAC is not saying “yes, it’s legal” to allow the insurance companies to offer customized insurances.
So the schema is: DGAC says advertising is illegal (EVEN if the pilot does not earn 1 ct) → Airclubs do not want to take the insurance risk → No pilot is flying
Anyone an idea?
The advertising clause is not present in the EU law. It looks like something completely unfounded made up by the DGAC. Can’t the AOPA get DGAC’s lawyers to put this in writing? That’s what AOPA would do over here in such a case.
Yes, it’s totally unnecessary.
What do you mean with the AOPA and DGAC’s lawyer?
But basically the websites like flytclub, coavmi, wingly are legal, right?
Can’t the AOPA get DGAC’s lawyers to put this in writing?
I think you need to speak to a number of French pilots who know how the DGAC works in reality 
This is only because the DGAC is not saying “yes, it’s legal”
That’s exactly what the DGAC does, and it’s a how a lot of official stuff in France works. You don’t ask questions because doing so draws attention to yourself.
Hi Peter,
I expected that. What can we possibly do? Does DGAC want to wait for the EU or a first accident until it takes decision?
I would think that if you walked into the DGAC offices with a lawyer, they would give you the confirmation you want.
You just need to make sure that
Yes, of course it’s legal. EU law has replaced national law. It’s all the same now. In Germany only small details have changed because the current EU law is almost identical to the previous German law in that regard.
AOPA is a lobby organization (that every pilot should be member of) and part of the job of a lobby organization is to correct over-zealous government employees that do not know the law. So they should write to the DGAC’s lawyers to resolve this issue.
Peter: France is not a banana republic. If you have a fight over rules/law and you win, you don’t have to assume they will poison your well and kill your cat in the night.
