FAA flying club rules: what a flying club may and may not do
October 24, 2026 · Chris van Eijk
The FAA's definition of a flying club, and its guidance on what a club may do, are not in the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR) but in its Airport Compliance Manual — FAA Order 5190.6C, chapter 10, section 10.6. That section defines what a flying club is, sets out what makes it a club rather than a business at a federally funded airport, and lists items the FAA suggests airports adopt in their own rules. We read the order on faa.gov on 24 October 2026 (pages dated 2/20/2026).
Short answer: to the FAA a flying club is a nonprofit that provides aircraft to its members "for their personal use and enjoyment only". The aircraft must belong to the club or to all its members, members have equal property rights, and the club may not earn more from its aircraft than it needs to operate, maintain and replace them. A club may fuel and maintain its own aircraft and train its own members, and the FAA suggests airports require that it not rent its aircraft out, fly charter, let non-members fly, sell goods or services to non-members at the airport, or advertise itself as a flight school. An airport can ask for its insurance policies and member list (and, under the FAA's guidance, tax returns), and a club that breaks the rules can be made to stop operating as a club at every airport its airport sponsor controls.
May a flying club …?
| … | Per section 10.6 |
|---|---|
| Fuel and maintain its own aircraft with its members | Yes |
| Train members, with a member instructor or a flight-training business that leases space on the airport | Yes |
| Pay an instructor or a member mechanic — or credit their dues or flight time, but not both | Yes |
| Sell or exchange its capital equipment (such as its aircraft) | Yes |
| Give as much paid instruction or maintenance as it likes | Depends on the airport |
| Rent its aircraft out, or fly charter or air taxi | No |
| Let someone who is not a member fly the aircraft | No |
| Sell goods or services to non-members at the airport | No |
| Market itself as a flight school, or as a place where people can learn to fly | No |
| Charge more for use of its aircraft than operating, maintaining and replacing them needs | No |
What the FAA counts as a flying club
The definition, in the FAA's words, citing 81 Fed. Reg. 13719 (March 15, 2016): "The FAA defines a flying club as a nonprofit entity (e.g., corporation, association, or partnership) organized for the express purpose of providing its members with aircraft for their personal use and enjoyment only."
Three conditions follow in the same section:
- Ownership. "The ownership of the club aircraft must be vested in the name of the flying club or owned by all its members."
- Equality and no profit for anyone. "The property rights of the members of the club shall be equal; no part of the net earnings of the club will inure to the benefit of any individual in any form, including salaries, bonuses, etc."
- Revenue at cost. "The flying club may not derive greater revenue from the use of its aircraft than the amount needed for the operation, maintenance and replacement of its aircraft."
That last rule caps what a club may charge for its aircraft: enough to cover them and save for their replacement, not more. What that comes to at real clubs is in how much a flying club costs, and how a new club sets its first dues in how to start a flying club.
Why the airport cares
Order 5190.6C is written for airport sponsors, the airport owners bound by federal grant assurances or by covenants in conveyances of federal property. For them the question is whether a group on their field is a club or a commercial operator that should meet the airport's commercial standards. Being a club comes with a right: "A flying club qualifies as an individual under the grant assurances and, as such, has the right to fuel and maintain the aircraft with its members." The FAA also suggests airport rules provide that clubs "will not be subject to commercial FBO requirements provided the flying club fulfills the conditions contained in the stated airport standards or requirements satisfactorily".
In return the airport may check. "The airport owner has the right to require the flying club to furnish documents, such as insurance policies and a current list of members, as may be reasonably necessary to assure that the flying club is a nonprofit organization rather than an FBO or other commercial entity." The FAA also suggests that a club "should file periodic documents as required by the sponsor, including tax returns, insurance policies, membership lists, and other documents that the sponsor reasonably requires."
Most of the rules below come with a caveat the order states itself: "The FAA suggests several definitions and items as guidance for inclusion by airports in their minimum standards and airport rules and regulations." They bind your club where your airport has adopted them, so read your airport's minimum standards.
No rental, members only
The core rule: "Flying clubs may not offer or conduct charter, air taxi, or aircraft rental operations." And the club "may conduct aircraft flight instruction for regular members only, and only members of the flying club may operate the aircraft." A club cannot rent its aircraft to a pilot who is not a member, however briefly.
The same goes for anything else a club might sell: "All flying clubs and their members are prohibited from leasing or selling any goods or services whatsoever to any person or firm other than a member of such club at the airport, except that said flying club may sell or exchange its capital equipment." Selling capital equipment, such as a club aircraft, is allowed; selling fuel or leasing hangar space to non-members at the airport is not, for the club or for its members.
Instruction and maintenance
Can we train in the club aircraft?
1. Is the student a member of the club?
If not: No instruction in the club aircraft: only members may operate it.
2. Is the instructor a member too — or a flight-training business that leases space on the airport?
If not: The FAA’s guidance names only these two cases, so check your airport’s rules.
3. Is the instructor paid — in money or in credit on dues or flight time?
Either is allowed, but not both at the same time; the airport may cap the amount of paid instruction.
A club aircraft may be used for instruction in two ways: when both the instructor and the student are members of the club, or "when the instruction is given by a lessee based on the airport who provides flight training and the person receiving the training is a member of the flying club". In either case "a flight instructor may receive monetary compensation for instruction or may be compensated by credit against payment of dues or flight time" — "however that individual may not receive both compensation and waived or discounted dues or flight time concurrently." And: "The airport sponsor may set limits on the amount of instruction that may be performed for compensation."
Maintenance follows the same pattern: "A qualified mechanic who is a registered member and part owner of the aircraft owned and operated by a flying club may perform maintenance work on aircraft owned by the club." Paid in money or in credit, not both, and again within any limit the airport sets.
Paid instruction raises a second question that Order 5190.6C does not answer: whether the aircraft then needs a 100-hour inspection. That depends on who provides the aircraft and the instructor, and is worked out in does a flying club need a 100-hour inspection.
Not a flight school
The order is blunt about marketing: "Flying clubs may not indicate in any form of marketing and/or communications that they are a flight school, and flying clubs may not indicate in any form of marketing and/or communications that they are a business where people can learn to fly." A club can train its members; it cannot advertise training to the public. How learning to fly at a club compares with a school is in flying club vs flight school.
What happens if a club breaks the rules
"A flying club that violates the requirements for a flying club – or that permits one or more members to do so – may be required to terminate all operations as a flying club at all airports controlled by the airport sponsor." A club that lets a member fly a non-member friend in the club aircraft, or sell to outsiders, risks its status as a club.
Putting it into practice
The FAA rules translate into a few things a club writes down and can show: bylaws that make it a nonprofit with equal member rights (see flying club bylaws), a current member list, insurance policies (see flying club insurance), dues and rates that cover the aircraft and no more, and a booking system in which only members can fly. These rules apply at federally obligated US airports; elsewhere — at a private US airfield, or in Europe and the UK — a club answers to national rules and to its airfield.