Aviation Today

Aviation is the prime mode of transportation in the U.S. Airline, General Aviation (GA), and Helicopter travel.

In the operational sense, aviation is 629,539 certificated pilots, upwards of 230,000 airplanes in the sky at one time, flying in a patchwork of cluttered airways, controlled by FAA Centers and Towers under instrument and visual flight conditions, performing takeoffs and landings at 5,270 public-use airports.

Some of the GA flying is accomplished without a flight plan, weather briefing, or proper flight preparation.

Many of the smaller airports are being crowded out by regional and local encroachments of expanding populations.

The price of aviation fuel remains “high”, and the grade of fuel is not always available.

Add flight and weather delays, and airplane and airport security to this “mix” – we now have a multitude of problems, and sometimes accidents and incidents.

There are also statutory and regulatory problems which must be solved by Federal and State (and sometimes Local) coordination and agreements.

Overcrowded airways, a mix of airway and direct routes (depending on installed aircraft equipment), congested airport and route Hubs, authority differences between FAA and NTSB on remedial action and flying violations, and military priorities top the current list of problems.

Congressional oversite regarding aviation funding, taxes, and user fees is urgent – necessary to a solid and workable National Aviation Policy.

--RS