Terms of Service

Pilot Companion · version 2026-10-24 · last updated 24 October 2026

These terms apply to your use of TheAIR.Tech Pilot Companion (“Pilot Companion”, the “Ready Room”), the web app at theair.tech/readyroom, and to your subscription. By creating an account you agree to them. Please read section 3 carefully: it limits what Pilot Companion may be used for.

1. Who we are

The Aerial Intelligence and Reconnaissance Technology Group T/A as TheAIR.Tech
Physical address: Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Email: hello@theair.tech · Website: theair.tech

2. The service

Pilot Companion is a flight planning and training tool for pilots in South Africa. It includes route planning, a weather and NOTAM briefing, an ICAO flight plan form, weight and balance, a flight computer, an airspace map and a searchable index of South African air law. A subscription gives one person access to the Ready Room for as long as the subscription is paid up. We may improve, change or remove features over time.

3. Not for navigation — you remain responsible

Pilot Companion is an aid to planning and training only. It is not approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority or any other authority for flight preparation, navigation or operational use, and it does not replace an official briefing.

  • Third-party data. Its data comes from third parties (including weather services, the AIP, CAA publications, the NOTAM summary and community-maintained aerodrome lists). It may be incomplete, out of date, delayed or wrong, and a service may stop answering without warning. When a source cannot be reached, the app may show less information than usual or none at all; the absence of a warning, NOTAM or SIGMET in Pilot Companion does not mean there is none.
  • Automated calculations. Headings, times, fuel, magnetic variation, density altitude, sunrise and sunset, airspace on the route and the semi-circular rule check are worked out automatically by software and are not checked by a person. They can be wrong because of an error in the data, in the software or in what you entered.
  • Weight and balance. The aircraft types in Pilot Companion carry typical values for each type, not the values of your aircraft. A load sheet is only as good as the empty weight, arm, limits and loading stations you enter. Your aircraft’s own POH/AFM, current weight and balance report and equipment list always govern.
  • Terrain and positions. Terrain heights come from a weather model and are approximate. Positions of unlicensed fields and community-listed aerodromes may be inaccurate. GPS position on the Map tab is for situational awareness only.
  • Training versus operations. Features such as the flight computer, the airspace map and the air law search are learning and planning aids. The air law index is a search tool, not an authoritative copy of the law: the published legislation governs.
  • Official sources come first. Before every flight you must use the current official sources: the AIP and AIP supplements, official NOTAMs, official meteorological briefings, current charts, your aircraft’s POH/AFM and its current weight and balance report.
  • The pilot in command remains solely responsible for the safe conduct of every flight and for complying with the Civil Aviation Regulations.

4. Your account

  • You must give us a working email address and your real name, and keep your password secret. An account is for one person; please do not share it.
  • You are responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us straight away at hello@theair.tech if you think someone else has used it.
  • If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must agree to these terms on your behalf and manage the subscription.

5. Subscriptions, free trial and payment

  • Plans are billed monthly or yearly, in advance, in South African rand, at the price shown when you subscribe. [TheAIR.Tech is not registered for VAT.]
  • Payments are processed by PayFast. Your card details are entered on PayFast’s secure page and are never seen or stored by us.
  • Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period until you cancel it.
  • Free trial: new members get one free trial per person (the length is shown when you sign up). Your card is stored by PayFast when the trial starts, and the first payment is taken when the trial ends unless you cancel before then.
  • If a renewal payment fails, PayFast may try again. If it is still not paid a few days after it was due, access to the Ready Room stops until the subscription is paid.
  • We may change prices for future billing periods. We will email you at least 30 days before a price change affects you, and you can cancel before it does.

6. Cancelling and refunds

You can cancel at any time on your account page. Cancelling stops future payments; you keep access until the end of the period you have paid for. Refunds are explained in our Refunds & Cancellations policy, which also explains how to query a payment.

7. Fair use

You may not: copy, scrape, download in bulk or resell the data or the service; use automated tools to access it; try to get around the sign-in or the payment; interfere with the service or other users; or use it for anything unlawful.

8. Availability

We work to keep Pilot Companion available but cannot promise it will always be available, error-free or uninterrupted, particularly where it depends on outside services or your internet connection. We may take it offline for maintenance; where we can, we plan this outside flying hours and tell members in advance.

Long outages. If the Ready Room cannot be used for more than 72 hours in a row because of a fault on our side, you may ask us, within 30 days, either to add the days lost to your subscription or to refund the part of your payment for those days. This does not apply to maintenance we announced in advance, to an outside data service being unavailable while the rest of the Ready Room works, or to problems with your own device or internet connection.

Changes to features. If we remove a major feature that was described on the Pilot Companion page when you subscribed, and it is not replaced, you may cancel and ask for a refund of the unused part of a yearly subscription.

9. Reporting errors and safety issues

If you find information in Pilot Companion that is wrong, out of date or could affect safety, or the app behaves unexpectedly, please email feedback@theair.tech with what you saw, where (tab, aerodrome, route or aircraft) and, if you can, a screenshot. You can also use that address for bugs and feature requests.

  • We acknowledge reports within two working days and keep a record of each one and what we did about it.
  • Where an error could affect safety, we may switch the affected feature or data off until it is fixed and show a warning in the app, and we may email affected members.
  • Reporting an error does not change section 3: until you hear that it is fixed, keep relying on the official sources.

10. Intellectual property

The Pilot Companion software, design and our own content belong to TheAIR.Tech. Third-party data remains the property of its owners and is used under their terms. Your subscription gives you a personal, non-transferable right to use the service; it does not transfer any ownership to you.

11. Our liability

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 that cannot lawfully be limited. Subject to that, and because of section 3:

  • we are not liable for any loss, damage, injury, fine or cost arising from relying on information in Pilot Companion instead of the official sources, or from any decision made about a flight;
  • we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss; and
  • our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the subscription fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose.

12. Suspending or closing accounts

We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, after warning you where reasonable. If we close Pilot Companion altogether, we will give you at least 30 days’ notice and refund any unused part of a yearly subscription.

13. Privacy

How we handle your personal information is explained in our Privacy Policy.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms, for example when the law, the service or our data sources change. Each version carries a date (shown at the top of this page), and we keep a record of which version you accepted and when.

  • For a change that affects your rights or what you pay, we email you at least 30 days before it takes effect.
  • If you already subscribe, the new version applies from your first renewal after those 30 days. Until then, the version you accepted applies.
  • If you do not agree, cancel before the new version applies to you and you will not be charged again.
  • A change needed to comply with the law or to deal with a safety issue may take effect sooner; we will tell you why.
  • Small changes that do not affect your rights (correcting a typing error or our contact details, for example) take effect when published here.

15. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa. Please contact us first so we can try to resolve any problem. You may also approach the National Consumer Commission or another body that the law allows.

16. Contact

General questions: hello@theair.tech or +27 (0) 74 580 0662. Errors, bugs, billing questions and feature requests: feedback@theair.tech. Legal notices may be delivered to the physical address in section 1.