For some time now the FAA has been predicting that 8,700 very light jets would clog the air traffic control system by 2016, feeding the airline industry’s campaign for general aviation user fees.
In recent weeks, however, some sort of realism has struck Washington, D.C. — at least at FAA headquarters — and the number has dropped quite dramatically, to the 4,000-5,000 range.
Whether the agency pulls its numbers out of the air, as many in the industry believe, or via some form of statistical mumbo-jumbo, makes little difference either to the airlines or to the outcome. The airlines are on a user-fee roll and are unlikely to apply the brakes; the VLJ manufacturers are on a marketing roll undeterred by airline or FAA mundunugu.