Owning an aircraft with others has a the strong upside of spreading the cost of ownership over a number of people. The downside is that sometimes one of those other people won’t live up the responsibilities she or he agreed to when signing on. At best that’s unpleasant, at worst it can lead to litigation. I’ve been in four aircraft co-ownerships and two flying clubs. For the most part, things went smoothly and I made some of the best friends I’ve had in my life through those experiences. At the same time, not everything was perfect.
Looking back on the good, bad and indifferent with joint ownership, having been an officer in a flying club and talking with officers of several flying clubs, I think that one of the most effective ways of dealing with problem children in a joint ownership is to avoid them through a screening process to make sure that a prospective co-owner/club member fits in with the personality or culture of the group.
Whether it’s a group of pilots sitting down to talk over buying an airplane together or a flying club looking at a prospective new member, any group of aviators develops a personality. What is most important, in my opinion, is what motivates each pilot to enter into group aircraft ownership.
In my experience and in talking with many pilots in co-ownerships as we’ll as hearing from readers, the most common motivation is being able to do more flying in as much airplane as possible for the least money. That’s great, but what is more important is the next question—how far is the pilot willing to go to cut costs? I’ve seen clubs where the culture was to do only the bare minimum in the way of maintenance, to the point that unairworthy airplanes were being flown. I’ve seen the other end of the spectrum, where the aircraft were beautifully maintained, squawks immediately fixed and upgrades regularly made to avionics and interiors. When those personalities clash in one club, it’s a mess.
After cost, there are the little things that can divide co-owners, such as keeping the airplane clean, whether to fuel up after a flight, whether to equip the aircraft for IFR operations, scheduling, what insurance to carry and recurrent training, to name a few.
Hauling the issues out in the open when forming a co-ownership and going into detail when creating an operating agreement can prevent later problems. Although, as I wrote that I recalled putting together a written agreement with four others to co-own a hot air balloon only to have two of them, who actually wrote much of the agreement, subsequently ignore the agreement completely.
I’ve seen flying clubs that have an onboarding process that involves a prospective member attending meetings, getting to know as many members as possible and participating in club airplane washes and social events so that everyone can see if there is a fit between the prospective member’s idea of the ideal flying club and the culture of that club. The Ann Arbor Flyers in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has such an onboarding process and that club has been around for over 75 years. It’s also what AOPA recommends in its excellent materials on flying clubs.
I think that it’s also essential for the co-ownership to have specific rules as to the responsibilities of each co-owner/club member and consequences of failing to meet them. Because nonpayment is the most common problem I’ve seen in flying clubs, I think that any co-ownership should have a requirement that monthly dues are via auto pay by each member. If a payment is missed, the member’s flying privileges are immediately suspended until the account is paid in full—no exceptions or extended grace period.
The worst financial problems I’ve seen with clubs have come from listening to sob stories from what turn out to be deadbeat members as they fail to pay and keep on flying. Don’t forget that extortionists are invariably described as the nicest people in the world and that they will never, ever admit that they did anything wrong. They really paid in full, there’s just something wrong with the system for not showing it. I met such a person in one club I was in—and the treasurer made the mistake of believing him for a while. The club had to sue him and then garnish his wages, whereupon it found out that he owed money all over town.
For members who violate operating rules—anything from safety rules, weather minimums, not returning the airplane on time or clean—counseling by the club safety officer or president is usually effective. Most club members want to comply with the rules. However, if the pilot blows off the counseling attempt or a safety issue happens again or is egregious the first time, don’t delay—follow the procedure to terminate the club membership or buy out the co-ownership.
While it’s awful to have to take action against someone we know and like, dealing with the aftermath of that pilot crashing an airplane is far worse.
—Rick Durden
