I'm a bit biased here (I have a pilots license, though it hasn't been valid for years), but I don't see the problem with this. In a nutshell: I'm in Sacramento and want to fly to Monterey for the day. Because I'm going there anyway, there's nothing wrong with me saying "Hey, I'm going to Monterey, anyone want to chip in for gas and ride with me?" People have been doing this since the first planes took to the air, and it's perfectly legal.

Flytenow is simply allowing pilots to list these trips online to broaden the number of people they attract. FAA regs are very clear in that the pilots can only SHARE COSTS and not profit, so it can't legally become an "Uber of the air".

The FAA, in the end, will lose the lawsuit for two reasons. First, "charter" services, by definition, allow the passenger to pick the destination. If you called me up and said, "Fly me to Vegas", I would be offering a charter service to you. That's not what Flytenow is about. They are allowing people to hitch a ride on flights that are ALREADY planned. The FAA will also lose because of the profit angle. By definition, the purpose of a business is to make money. Because the regulations only permit cost sharing, there is no profit to be made in this market (Flytenow profits by charging the passenger a fee for setting up the connection, and the pilot gets none of it). If these pilots aren't trying to make a profit, it's going to be hard for the FAA to convince a judge that these are charter operations that should be regulated like commercial flights.

I would easily use this to look for flights somewhere fun for a weekend.

I am also a General Aviation pilot.

I do have concerns. Mainly, the one "hitching" the ride would need to understand that the pilot is only going to make the flight provided they felt comfortable doing so. If something isn't right with the plane upon pre-flight, or if the weather turns bad, or a million other things that could made the flight less than safe, then the flight would hopefully not be made. If the person along for the ride is aware of this, then all is good.

I'd hate for a pilot to be pressured by a passenger ("But I have to be there...!!!!&quot and do something beyond what they feel comfortable doing. You would pray a pilot wouldn't succumb to that kind of pressure, but we're all human.

...one might argue that a pilot who can be peer-pressured into flying against his better judgement has no business flying in the first place. Of course, I've met a lot of bad pilots...

Personally, it's not something that I'll ever deal with. I have/had a recreational pilot certificate (with B/C/D airspace and cross country endorsements), so I'm limited to one passenger anyway. If I did recertify, it's unlikely that I'd fly anywhere worth visiting without my wife in the other seat

much closer than SMF. And to fly from SMF to MRY commercially would involve two United Express flights connecting at SFO, and would be off-the-charts expensive as well as cumbersome.

This isn't really one of them.

I fly with private pilots quite a bit, nice way to get to Catalina Island.