stremair, sorry mate but in all Australian jurisdictions you are incorrect.
Many people believe that a pilot can not be paid for their services when flying in a private operation. This is not the case. Many people also believe that the holder of a private pilots licence can not be paid for piloting services. This is also not the case. Indeed, there are a number of CASA staff who do not have a correct understanding of this area of the law.
Throughout the regulations the “for hire or reward” clauses almost always refer to charging money for the provision of “accommodation on board an aircraft” or for “the carriage of persons or goods”. These clauses affect the financial relationship between the aircraft operator and the people being carried aboard the aircraft. They do not refer to the provision of pilot labour or the financial or employment arrangements between the aircraft operator and the pilot. (The exceptions being aerial spotting, aerial photography and “cost sharing” private flights – see below.)
To illustrate the difference, if a friend of mine rings me and says “can you organise a plane and take me to Broken Hill” then I would be the aircraft operator (over and above being just the pilot) since I have organised for the “carriage of persons or goods on board an aircraft”. If I charge him money for carriage on board the aircraft then this would of course be classed as a commercial operation. I would need all the requisite ingredients (AOC, CPL, passenger carriers liability insurance etc). To charge money for the carriage of persons or goods on board the aircraft without any one of the required pieces of paper would be against the law.
HOWEVER, if I am a PPL and my mate owns his own aeroplane, and he wants me to fly it somewhere for him, then there is no legal impediment to me charging him money for my labour. The flight might be simply a positioning flight, my mate and/or his family might be on board, or maybe he runs some sort of business and needs to transport his staff somewhere. He has provided the aircraft and he has organised “the carriage of persons or goods on board the aircraft” so he is the operator. I am merely the pilot and am quite entitled and allowed to be paid for my labour. What my mate is NOT allowed to do is charge other people money for carriage on board the aeroplane. If he did charge other people money for carriage then it would be a commercial operation.
stremair, your friendly CASA officer has referred you to CAR 2, sub-regulation 7 and 7A. Sorry for the length but I feel it is important to quote those two sub-regulations in their entirety. You can also find them for yourself at
http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/pas...0/PR000050.htm
Australian Civil Aviation Regulations (1988) Section 2 {quote}
“(7) For the purposes of these regulations:
(a) an aircraft that is flying or operating for a commercial purpose referred to in paragraph 206 (a) shall be taken to be employed in aerial work operations;
(b) an aircraft that is flying or operating for a commercial purpose referred to in paragraph 206 (b) shall be taken to be employed in charter operations;
(c) an aircraft that is flying or operating for the commercial purpose referred to in paragraph 206 (c) shall be taken to be employed in regular public transport operations; and
(d) an aircraft that is flying or operating for the purpose of, or in the course of:
(i) the personal transportation of the owner of the aircraft;
(ii) aerial spotting where no remuneration is received by the pilot or the owner of the aircraft or by any person or organisation on whose behalf the spotting is conducted;
(iii) agricultural operations on land owned and occupied by the owner of the aircraft;
(iv) aerial photography where no remuneration is received by the pilot or the owner of the aircraft or by any person or organisation on whose behalf the photography is conducted;
(v) the carriage of persons or the carriage of goods without a charge for the carriage being made other than the carriage, for the purposes of trade, of goods being the property of the pilot, the owner or the hirer of the aircraft;
(va) the carriage of persons in accordance with sub-regulation (7A);
(vi) the carriage of goods otherwise than for the purposes of trade;
(vii) conversion training for the purpose of endorsement of an additional type or category of aircraft in a pilot licence; or
(viii) any other activity of a kind substantially similar to any of those specified in subparagraphs (i) to (vi) (inclusive);
shall be taken to be employed in private operations.
(7A) An aircraft that carries persons on a flight, otherwise than in accordance with a fixed schedule between terminals, is employed in a private operation if:
(a) public notice of the flight has not been given by any form of public advertisement or announcement; and
(b) the number of persons on the flight, including the operating crew, does not exceed 6; and
(c) no payment is made for the services of the operating crew; and
(d) the persons on the flight, including the operating crew, share equally in the costs of the flight; and
(e) no payment is required for a person on the flight other than a payment under paragraph (d).” {end quote} (again, sorry for length)
There is nothing in sub-regulation 7 which prevents a private pilot being paid, or which prevents a CPL or higher licence holder from being paid whilst engaged in private operations for any flying of a type described in 7 (d) (i), (iii), (v), (vi), or (vii). Please note that each of the paragraphs in sub-regulation 7 section (d) are in the alternative. You must only satisfy ONE of the descriptions 7 (d) (i) through 7 (d) (viii) in order to be classed as a private operation.
The BHP example used in an earlier post is described by 7 (d) (v).
My mate with his own aircraft is described by 7 (d) (i) if he were on board (and arguably if his family were on board as well), or under 7 (d) (v) if his staff were on board.
Sub-regulation 7A is known as the “cost sharing” regulation. It allows people on board a private flight (including the pilot) to pay an equal share toward the cost of the flight. Prior to 7A being introduced (in about 1991??) a passenger on board a private flight was not allowed to make ANY contribution to the cost of the flight, or it would have been classed as a commercial flight. Sub-regulation 7A does not have any effect if your operation is described by ANY ONE of the other paragraphs in 7 (d).
And finally, do understand that I have been around the block on this one. But please don’t trust me, go and ask CASA to clarify exactly which regulatory instrument disallows private pilots being paid for flying of the types described in 7 (d) (i), (iii), (v), (vi), or (vii) or even parachute ops. There isn't one.