Story ID: 
Supreme Court To Decide on Flytenow Review
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: The court justices will discuss on January 6 whether to review the case .
Word Count: 182
The U.S. Supreme Court will discuss this week whether to consider Flytenow’s request to review a case it filed against the FAA over the company’s flight-sharing website. The case is among those scheduled for a Supreme Court conference on Friday.

Backed by the Goldwater Institute, Flytenow is seeking to overturn an FAA legal interpretation that effectively shut down the website, which connected pilots with potential passengers who would share expenses on pre-planned Part 91 flights. The FAA had determined that pilots who solicit passengers using the website are “common carriers” and subject to commercial transportation requirements.

Flytenow believes the FAA “drastic[ally] departed[ed] from the common law definition of ‘common carrier,’” but the FAA argues that the lower courts have “correctly rejected” Flytenow’s claims.

The Flytenow effort has drawn objections from NATA. “This is part of a campaign to convince people it is now acceptable to allow the public to ride-share with private pilots with potentially little flight time or training for challenging weather conditions,” NATA president Marty Hiller noted.