Did You Know…About Renting Out Your Aircraft?

By Adam Hunt

We have had several questions recently about renting out your aircraft as a way to allow other pilots to fly your plane. This can be done with only two considerations – one regulatory and the other insurance, of course.

From a regulation point of view renting out your aircraft is a commercial air service under the Aeronautics Act. That said, it is one of those areas of commercial aviation that does not require a commercial operating certificate or a commercially registered aircraft under the CARs Part VII – private aircraft can be legally rented out.

Aviation insurance also follows the definitions in the Aeronautics Act and considers renting out your plane as “commercial use”. The COPA Gold and Silver Wings insurance policies exclude renting out your plane. They only cover “Private Business and Pleasure” which is specifically defined as excluding “the use of the aircraft for…hire, reward or any use for which any remuneration or benefit is received, promised or anticipated, other than a bona fide reimbursement to you for operating expenses only of the aircraft”.

That means if you lend your aircraft to someone and they pay only their own operating expenses (which is fuel, oil and landing fees) then your Silver Wings or Gold Wings (if they are named on the policy) will provide coverage for you.

If they are renting the aircraft from you then COPA’s insurance plans will not cover you and you will need to contact Marsh’s Commercial Aviation Office at 403-290-7900 for a quote on insurance to rent your aircraft out.