Cost Sharing, Hire or Reward, and the Private Pilot
You hold a PPL(A) with a valid SEP (land) rating and a Class 2 medical. You hire a Cessna 172N from a Nairobi club on a wet basis at KES 21,000 per hour, with a two-hour minimum charge per flight. Three friends ask you to fly them to Ukunda for a weekend. You plan 1.8 hours each way, one landing fee of KES 1,200 at Ukunda, and no other direct costs. Brian, a director of the company you work for, says he will 'sort out the aircraft bill for the whole trip because you are doing the flying'. The other two suggest paying KES 13,000 each, leaving you to pay nothing 'because you are the pilot'. The club's rules state that club aircraft may not be used for hire or reward, and the owner's insurance covers private use only. Another member tells you it is fine because you will log the hours as P1.
1. Work out the total direct cost of the trip and decide whether the proposed arrangement is lawful under PPL privileges. Show the arithmetic.
Read the worked answer
Start with the direct cost, because every cost-sharing test begins there.
- Flying: each 1.8 h leg falls below the two-hour minimum, so each leg is charged at 2.0 h. That is 2 x 2.0 = 4.0 h x KES 21,000 = KES 84,000.
- Landing fee: KES 1,200.
- Total direct cost: KES 85,200. Divided by the four persons on board = KES 21,300 each.
The principle is that a PPL holder may carry passengers and share the direct cost of the flight, provided (a) the flight is not held out to the public, (b) nobody pays more than their proportionate share, and (c) the pilot genuinely pays their own share. Two of the suggestions fail that test outright:
- Brian paying the whole bill discharges you from all cost. That is a benefit in kind - remuneration, or hire or reward - and converts the flight into commercial air transport, for which you would need a CPL and the aircraft would need to be operated commercially.
- 'You pay nothing' has exactly the same defect, whatever the passengers think they are paying for.
The two friends paying KES 13,000 each (KES 39,000) would leave you paying KES 46,200 - more than your pro-rata share - which on its own is not remuneration. But that only cures the arithmetic; it does not cure Brian's offer, the club rule or the private-use insurance. My answer: only four equal shares of KES 21,300 with no side arrangements, cleared with the club and insurer in advance, would be defensible. Confirm the current cost-sharing wording in the Kenya Civil Aviation Regulations, Part 2, before relying on it.
2. State the regulatory and insurance consequences if the flight goes ahead with the pilots paying nothing, and explain why 'logging P1 hours' does not change the analysis.
Read the worked answer
If the pilot is carried free, the flight is being conducted for remuneration, and a PPL does not confer that privilege. The consequences stack up on three levels:
- Licensing. The pilot is exercising privileges not held. Commercial air transport requires at least a CPL (and an ATPL for larger aircraft), an air operator certificate for the operator, an aircraft maintained and equipped for the operation, and commercial insurance. A private flight flown for reward is unlicensed commercial operation however small the aircraft.
- Insurance. The policy covers private use only. Insurers exclude use for hire or reward, so cover for hull, passenger liability and third-party liability is void. If a passenger is injured, the pilot faces uninsured claims personally, and the club faces liability for an unauthorised use of its aircraft.
- Enforcement. KCAA may suspend, revoke or refuse renewal of the licence, and the matter can proceed to prosecution and civil claims.
Why the logbook is irrelevant: the reward here is not the hour in the logbook, it is being carried at somebody else's expense. Logging P1 is an administrative record of the flight; it does not create privileges and it cannot convert a commercial flight into a private one. In fact, a detailed logbook entry becomes evidence that the flight took place exactly as described.
3. Regardless of how the cost question is resolved, what documents, records and briefings must you deal with before departing on this flight?
Read the worked answer
Separate the personal documents from the aircraft documents and the operational paperwork.
Pilot: valid licence with SEP rating, and a valid Class 2 medical certificate (carried, not left at home). Also current recency and, if the club requires it, a checkout on type.
Aircraft: certificate of airworthiness and certificate of maintenance/release to service covering the flight, certificate of registration, insurance certificate, radio station licence, and the mass and balance documentation for the actual loading. The flight folio (journey log) must be on board and completed for each flight.
Operational: a weight and balance calculation for four adults plus baggage and full fuel - this is a 172 with a modest aft baggage limit, so check it rather than assume; performance figures for the day's temperature; a passenger briefing covering doors and exits, seat belts, no smoking, and what to do in an emergency; and the flight notification or flight plan required for the route.
Commercial and club: written confirmation from the club that the flight is acceptable under its rules, and from the insurer that the four-way cost-shared flight is within the private-use cover. If either refuses, the flight does not happen - the arithmetic being correct does not override the contract.