I will soon have my commercial pilot's license, and work full-time in a company and role unrelated to aviation. As a private pilot under FAA part 61.113b, I know that I can fly myself to conferences or sales meetings while having my employer reimburse me for the aircraft rental because the flight is only incidental to my employment.
My boss asked if my new CPL will allow me to take coworkers on such a trip, and I don't know how to answer him. It would be incidental to my employment and for a common purpose (i.e. I am also attending the same meeting), and there is no holding out since it would only be employees of the same company for a common purpose. I am also salaried, so there is no additional direct pay for the flight (just logging time). I'm not sure how to answer, and there are 3 scenarios to further complicate this (assume all aircraft have had 100-hr inspections):
- I rent the plane and submit for reimbursement along with my other ordinary business expenses.
- The company seeks out and rents the plane without my input.
- The company rents the plane from an FBO, but after asking me for a recommendation on where to find one.
Which of these are permitted with a CPL? I'm 99% sure that #2 is completely fine, but can't find regulations for or against the other scenarios.