Originally Posted by
jam9999
Curious as to your guys thoughts on flying the owner / operators friends with them in / not in the plane?
I am not in the UK but the rules are pretty much the same everywhere in Europe. I too have been doing this for many years beside another job. It is legal as long as the owner/operator of the plane is not charging anybody else for the flight. If he shuttles around his employees, has customers flown in to show them his factory or real estate (or whatever his business is), offers weekend trips as an incentive for his employees - no problem at all as long as the passengers are not paying. I have had several ramp inspections in Germany, the Netherland and France where we were met by some aviation officials who asked the passengers exactly this question: "Who has payed for your flight?". The first one who replies „I did!“ will make it very expensive for you....
And as others already said: Learn to say "No!" right from the beginning. Boss calls you in the evening: Can you fly me and my wife to Mallorca tomorrow morning? Sure! You make the plans, fuel the plane for the trip and in the morning he brings two extra friends and two dogs and four bags of golf clubs. Plus four massive suitcases. Makes your plane at least 500lb overweight. Boss says: No problem, the seller told me it's a strong plane that can easily handle it and my buddy Joe in Texas flies like that all the time! If you accept it one time you will have to do it always. Say NO! the first time. If he threatens to get himself another pilot let him do so!