The Rental tab controls whether an aircraft is available for rental bookings and how pricing is calculated. This tab defines the billing basis, default prices, subscription requirements, and custom pricing rules that determine what a pilot or relation is charged for using the aircraft.
Opening the Rental tab
- Open Fleet from the main navigation.
- Click the aircraft you want to configure.
- Select the Rental tab.
Enabling rental
The Rental aircraft switch is the master toggle for making an aircraft available for rent.
- On -- the aircraft is treated as a rental aircraft. It becomes available for booking through the scheduler, and the star icon appears next to it on the aircraft list.
- Off -- the aircraft is not available for rental. It will not appear in rental booking flows.
When you turn this switch off, the aircraft is immediately removed from the rental context. When you turn it on, all the other rental settings on this tab take effect.
Calendar group
The Calendar group field controls which scheduling context the aircraft belongs to. This determines where the aircraft appears in the scheduler and which booking rules apply.
Make sure the calendar group matches the intended booking and planning setup for your organization. If your fleet is organized into groups (for example, by base location or aircraft type), assign the correct group here.
Subscription requirement
You can require that a relation holds a valid subscription before they can book the aircraft.
How to enable subscription requirements
- Turn on the Subscriptions toggle.
- Select which subscription types qualify for booking this aircraft.
- Save the record.
Important
When enabled, only relations with one of the selected subscription types can create a booking for this aircraft. Relations without a qualifying subscription will not be able to book it.
When disabled, any relation can book the aircraft regardless of subscription status.
Billing basis
The Billing based on setting defines how rental time is measured for billing purposes:
| Billing basis | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Engine time | Time between engine start and engine stop |
| Flight time | Time from takeoff to landing |
Warning
This setting affects how every rental flight on this aircraft is billed. Changing the billing basis after flights have been logged can create billing inconsistencies.
This setting works together with the default price per minute to calculate the total rental charge.
The billing basis also flows into Finance for invoicing and into the Flight log for each flight entry.
Default pricing
Two base values define the standard pricing for the aircraft:
- Default rental price -- the price per minute charged for rental use. This is the baseline rate that applies to anyone who does not match a custom pricing rule.
- Default startup fee -- a fixed fee charged per flight log entry, in addition to the per-minute rate. This covers startup costs or fixed overhead per flight.
Together, these two values create the standard pricing model: a per-minute charge plus a per-flight startup fee.
Example
If the default rental price is 2.50 per minute and the default startup fee is 15.00, a 60-minute flight would be billed as:
- Rental: 60 minutes x 2.50 = 150.00
- Startup fee: 15.00
- Total: 165.00
Pricing strategy
When a relation matches multiple custom pricing rules (for example, they have two qualifying subscriptions or a subscription and a label), the pricing strategy determines which rule is applied:
| Strategy | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Apply lowest price | The system applies the rule that results in the lowest price for the relation. Customer-friendly approach. |
| Apply highest price | The system applies the rule that results in the highest price. Ensures maximum revenue when multiple rules match. |
Note
This setting only matters when multiple rules could apply to the same relation. If a relation matches only one rule, that rule is used regardless of the strategy.
Custom pricing rules
Custom pricing rules let you create exceptions to the default pricing for specific groups of relations. Rules can target relations based on:
- Subscription -- the rule applies to relations holding a specific subscription type.
- Label -- the rule applies to relations with a specific label assigned to them.
What each rule defines
For each custom rule, you set pricing for both the rental fee and the startup fee. Each can be defined as:
| Pricing type | Behaviour | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Absolute value | A fixed price that replaces the default | Setting 2.00 per minute means this group pays 2.00 regardless of the default |
| Offset from default | An adjustment added to or subtracted from the default price | An offset of -0.25 means this group pays 0.25 less per minute than the default |
Tip
Use offsets rather than absolute values when you want exceptions to move proportionally with the default price. If you change the default, all offset-based rules adjust automatically.
How to add a custom pricing rule
- Open the Rental tab for the aircraft.
- In the Custom Pricing Rules section, add a new rule.
- Choose the rule target: Subscription or Label.
- Select the specific subscription type or label.
- Set the rental fee: choose absolute or offset, then enter the value.
- Set the startup fee: choose absolute or offset, then enter the value.
- Save the record.
Example: Subscription-based discount
Your default rental price is 2.50 per minute. You want relations with a "Gold" subscription to pay 2.00 per minute:
- Add a custom pricing rule.
- Target: Subscription, select "Gold".
- Rental fee: Absolute, value 2.00.
- Startup fee: leave as default (or set an offset of 0 to keep the same startup fee).
- Save.
Example: Label-based offset
Your default rental price is 2.50 per minute. You want relations with the "Student" label to get a 0.30 per minute discount:
- Add a custom pricing rule.
- Target: Label, select "Student".
- Rental fee: Offset, value -0.30 (the effective price becomes 2.20).
- Startup fee: keep as default.
- Save.
Step-by-step: Setting up rental for an aircraft
- Open the aircraft in Fleet and go to the Rental tab.
- Turn on the Rental aircraft switch.
- Assign the correct Calendar group.
- Decide whether a subscription is required to book the aircraft. If yes, enable the toggle and select qualifying subscription types.
- Set the Billing based on to either Engine time or Flight time.
- Enter the Default rental price per minute.
- Enter the Default startup fee per flight.
- Set the Pricing strategy (lowest or highest) for cases where multiple rules match.
- Add any Custom pricing rules for specific subscription types or labels.
- Save the record.
- Verify the aircraft appears with the star icon on the aircraft list, confirming it is now a rental aircraft.
Common tasks
Make an aircraft available for rental Turn on the Rental aircraft switch, set the calendar group, billing basis, and default prices, then save.
Remove an aircraft from rental Turn off the Rental aircraft switch and save. The aircraft is immediately removed from the rental context.
Change the per-minute price for all renters Update the Default rental price field. All relations using the default pricing will see the new rate. Relations with absolute custom pricing rules will not be affected, but those with offset rules will adjust automatically.
Give a discount to a specific subscription group Add a custom pricing rule targeting the subscription type. Use either an absolute price or a negative offset from the default.
Review current pricing for the aircraft Open the Rental tab and review the default prices and all custom pricing rules. Consider the pricing strategy to understand how conflicts between rules are resolved.
Good practices
- Use offsets rather than absolute values for custom pricing rules when you want exceptions to move proportionally with the default price. This reduces maintenance when default prices change.
- Keep the number of custom pricing rules manageable. Too many overlapping rules, combined with the pricing strategy, can make it difficult to predict what a specific relation will be charged.
- When setting up subscription requirements, ensure that the intended pilot population actually holds the required subscription type. Otherwise, you may inadvertently block bookings.
- Review rental pricing periodically to ensure it aligns with your current rate structure and operational costs.
- After changing pricing settings, verify the expected behavior by reviewing a sample booking or checking with the Finance module.