Aircraft Rates

Overview

Before Centerline can calculate what a flight costs, it needs to know what each aircraft charges per hour. Aircraft rates are the configuration layer that makes automatic billing possible. Every aircraft in your fleet can have its own rate schedule, and rates can change over time — a rate increase on January 1st doesn't retroactively change what flights cost in December.

Getting rates right at the start is important. If no rate is configured for an aircraft, Centerline can't generate a billing entry from a flight log for that aircraft. Pilots finishing a flight will see a warning that no rate is available instead of a cost summary. Setting up rates for each active aircraft should be one of the first things you do after enabling billing.

Accessing Aircraft Rates

1. Click Setup in the navigation bar
2. Select the Aircraft tab
3. Click on the aircraft you want to configure
4. The Rates section appears below the aircraft details

Rate Fields

Each rate entry has the following fields:

Effective Date — The date this rate takes effect. Centerline uses the effective date to determine which rate applies to a given flight. If an aircraft has multiple rates, the rate with the most recent effective date on or before the flight date is used. This means you can set a future rate today and it won't apply until that date arrives.

Hourly Rate — The dollar amount charged per hour of flight time. This is the core billing number.

Rate Method — How fuel is handled in the rate:

• Wet — Fuel cost is included in the hourly rate. The member pays the hourly rate and doesn't owe separately for fuel. If your club reimburses members who buy fuel (because the rate already covers it), you can configure a fuel reimbursement (see below).
• Dry — Fuel cost is not included. The hourly rate covers only the aircraft rental. Fuel is handled outside of Centerline's billing.

Rate Measurement — Which meter to use when calculating flight duration:

• Hobbs — Uses the hobbs meter reading from the flight log (end hobbs minus start hobbs). Hobbs measures elapsed time whenever the engine is running, including taxi and runup.
• Tach — Uses the tachometer reading from the flight log (end tach minus start tach). Tach time is typically less than hobbs time because the tachometer only registers full hours at a specific RPM. Many clubs prefer tach billing because it rewards efficient flying.

Fuel Reimbursement (Wet rates only) — When the rate method is Wet, you can optionally configure fuel reimbursement. This creates a credit on the billing entry to reimburse the member for fuel they purchased:

• Gallons — Reimburse based on gallons added, using a fixed per-gallon rate that you specify. The credit is calculated as gallons times the fuel rate. This requires the pilot to log fuel added in the flight log.
• Actual — Reimburse the actual dollar amount the member spent on fuel. The pilot enters the fuel cost when finishing the flight and that amount becomes the credit.

If fuel reimbursement is not needed (for example, the club provides fuel at the airport), leave it unset.

Rate Timeline

Each aircraft can have multiple rates, each with a different effective date. The rates list shows them in chronological order with a status indicator:

• Current (teal) — The rate that is in effect today. This is the most recent rate with an effective date on or before today.
• Future (yellow) — A rate with an effective date after today. It will automatically become the current rate when that date arrives.
• Past (dimmed) — A rate that was previously current but has been superseded by a newer rate.

Only one rate can be current at any given time. When a new rate's effective date arrives, it automatically takes over — there is no manual activation step.

Adding a Rate

1. In the aircraft's Rates section, click Add Rate
2. Fill in the effective date, hourly rate, rate method, rate measurement, and fuel reimbursement (if applicable)
3. Click Add Rate

When adding a new rate, the form pre-fills values from the most recent existing rate. This saves time when the only change is a rate increase — just update the effective date and hourly rate.

Editing and Deleting Rates

Click the pencil icon on any rate to edit it, or the trash icon to delete it. Editing a rate updates it in place — it does not create a new rate entry. Deleting a rate removes it from the timeline entirely.

Be cautious when editing or deleting rates that are in the past. Billing entries that were already generated using that rate are not automatically recalculated. If you need to correct a historical rate, you should also review and update any billing entries that were generated from it.

Tips

• Set up rates for every active aircraft before members start logging flights. A missing rate means no automatic billing entry and a manual data entry task later.
• When raising rates, create a new rate with a future effective date rather than editing the current one. This preserves the historical rate for any flights logged before the change and makes the transition automatic.
• If your club uses wet rates with fuel reimbursement, make sure pilots know to log their fuel added (gallons) or fuel cost (actual) in their flight log entries. Without that data, the fuel credit can't be calculated.
• Review the rate timeline periodically. Past rates accumulate over time and while they don't cause problems, keeping the list clean makes it easier to see what's current.