On Thu, 06 May 2004 16:56:10 -0700, Peter wrote:


I'd recommend against accepting such a clause in a rental agreement.
The renter has no control over the quality of maintenance of the
plane, how previous renters operated it, or many other factors that
could lead to an unexpected breakdown. Therefore the renter who is
unlucky enough to have possession when the breakdown occurs should not
have to suffer undue financial hardship (he's probably already had his
day disrupted by not being able to continue his planned flight).

I also feel this clause could lead to renters taking slightly more risks
than they might otherwise to fly a marginal plane back to the home
airport.

Can you imagine a rental car company with such a policy? If Hertz told me
such a thing, I'd laugh in their face. I can understand something like a
24-hour window, just so pilots don't drop their plane off in the middle of
nowhere, every other day. But three days? Come on, that's not
reasonable. Even if the duration is deemed to be reasonable, the wording
is ambigious at best. This may leave the renter unreasonably exposed to
liabilty that the FBO should be covering. The FBO should be charging
rates to account for such problems, when and if they occur. Furthermore,
the language needs to be more explicate so as to detail problems and
schedules which are except (engine failure over weekends or holidays, etc).

As is, I know I sure wouldn't sign such a thing.