HOUSTON — A new aircraft rental website aims to bring the power of the sharing economy to the general aviation industry.
With the launch of Rent-A-Plane.com, founder and president Jim Weldon said he hopes to create a better way for owners to rent their aircraft to offset costs and for potential renters to find the ideal aircraft to meet their needs.
“Right now, owners have very few options when it comes to renting their plane — co-ownership, a leaseback situation, or a service that takes a healthy percentage of any rental income are the only real options,” Weldon said.
“Each of these comes with its own set of problems,” he noted. “For example, with co-ownership you might have issues like scheduling conflicts, maintenance disagreements, and financial disputes are not uncommon. Complications can arise when someone wants to sell their share of the aircraft.”
“In a leaseback agreement, owners essentially lose control of their aircraft and find themselves having to schedule time like everyone else,” he continued. “They no longer enjoy the freedom that is such a big part of private aviation. And it’s the same way with maintenance. Owners lose control, except when it comes to footing the bills, which can run high due to the extreme value-killing wear and tear aircraft suffer when owners enter into leaseback agreements.”
“Add to that, with a leaseback, owners typically get less than half the rental rate being charged, so owners don’t see the income they’re expecting. That’s a major advantage we have at Rent-A-Plane.com. Not only do our members maintain control over their aircraft, they get 100% of their rental fees.”
“For the pilot who takes advantage of our single plane free listing, we believe that our model based on the sharing economy hits that sweet spot between sole ownership and leasing back: When it suits you, you can rent your plane to good pilots who will pay a fair price for the privilege,” he said.
Along with the free listing for a single plane, Rent-A-Plane offers two affordable paid tiers for owners and groups that have additional aircraft they want to offer as rentals.
“The average airplane owner flies fewer than 100 hours a year, yet there are some pretty steep fixed costs that come with that ownership,” Weldon said. “Rent-A-Plane gives those pilots an easy-to-use web-based tool to dramatically offset their operating costs while still receiving the tax benefits of ownership and control over their aircraft.”
For renters, there’s a three-step process for finding the right plane. It starts with a search where renters can search by the type of aircraft or its location. They then can compare rental rates, read reviews, and see the member profiles for each aircraft. Once they find the plane that meets their needs, they directly contact the owner of the aircraft to arrange the rental.
“We designed this system to simplify the rental process and keep the owner in full control of the rental and the aircraft,” Weldon said. “This is unlike a third-party leaseback agreement where owners lose control over scheduling, who is flying their aircraft, and maintenance decisions.”
Thanks for the feedback Wylbur but I would have to disagree with you. With regard to the 100-hour inspection. Per FAA regulations
100-Hour Inspection (FAR 91.409)
The 100-hour inspection is required for aircraft:
That carry any person (other than a crew member) for hire; or
That are provided by any person giving flight instruction for hire.
The phrase “for hire” refers to the person, not the aircraft. An FAR Part 91 example of a person carried for hire is an aerial photography flight.
More info at APOA on that, here: https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/aircraft-and-ownership/maintenance-and-inspections/aircraft-inspections#2
Your second point about ‘commercial’ insurance. As an owner myself, you do not need commercial insurance to rent your aircraft to another pilot. Some policies require that you list them as a ‘Named Pilot’ . For example, Avemco allows an owner to rent their aircraft to another pilot.
Go Avemco here: https://avemco.com/owned-aircraft-insurance/features.aspx
Scroll down to: Pilots named on your policy can pay you for their personal, non-commercial use of your insured aircraft.
And… We do not subrogate against named insured pilots.
Yea, I agree with you that leasebacks can produce adverse outcomes. We are developing a platform that will enable owners to rent their aircraft occasionally and remain in control of rental frequence and who is renting their plane.
Look out for a bunch of expenses in states like TX and especially Dallas county. The moment you have your airplane producing revenue, you will be hit by a property tax bill that will probably be more than your annual inspection!!
Then, because of your airplane being used commercially (you are charging more than your costs), you are subject to 100 hr inspections (same inspection as an annual but without that expensive signature 🙂 ). You need to read the FAA regs relative to this.
Because you are renting out your airplane, you will have to get “commercial” insurance. That will add to your costs (oh, that will probably be in the special category of flight school). Figure on this being 5-7 times your current insurance rate.
How do I know all of this? Because I foolishly entered into a leaseback to an FBO in Dallas County TX. And no one explained what the costs were, they just wanted the plane for their flight school.