FAA Considers Rule Change for Personal Use of Corporate Aircraft

Reacting to a request from the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the FAA has released a proposed legal interpretation that would revise "broad prohibition on pro rata reimbursement for the cost of owning, operating and maintaining a company aircraft when used for routine personal travel by senior company officials and employees under certain conditions." Back in 1993, the FAA issued the so-called "Schwab Interpretation," which prohibits reimbursement for personal travel on aircraft operated under FAR Part 91. Under the new proposed interpretation, a company could receive reimbursement if a senior executive is required to change personal travel plans or return from a personal trip because of a company emergency or, in rare cases, even when no emergency exists. However, a company would have to keep a list of executives who meet these exceptions and keep records of flights to which this new interpretation is applied. The NBAA told BJT sister publication Aviation International News that it "welcomes this proposed interpretation and believes it is good public policy and in the spirit of the regulations to allow key executives to reimburse their companies for personal flights under certain limited circumstances." The FAA is accepting comments on the interpretation through August 9. BJT's Jeff Wieand will address this topic in his column in our August/September issue and will provide additional reporting in subsequent issues.