On Jan 2, 11:29*pm, Gezellig wrote:
On Fri, 2 Jan 2009 20:06:53 -0800 (PST), Dudley Henriques wrote:
Both Piper and Cessna have tried marketing programs designed to
encourage new entries into the market, and both have met with limited
success.
The economic situation in the United States will now most likely
result in a paradigm shift for the light aircraft market.
Actually it's been happening ahead of the economic turn down; i.e; the
light sport aircraft market.
It's very difficult at this point to forecast where the GA market will
go from here. Between the national security regulations limiting GA to
some extent, and the economy, the future may very well be the
ultralight for the average Sunday pilot.
But who really knows? The above would be a fair cross section of what
I get in feedback as I move through the aviation world in the United
States.
Dudley Henriques

Questions:

1) Do you believe there is a concerted effort, one tool of which is the
flight and pax filings in advance of any GA flight, to choke GA?
Specifically, the single/twin engine, piston, GA business and
recreational pilot (who can travel intra/interstate for several hundred
miles)?

2) Will this effort spill over to the EXP market?

3) If CFI training as we know it, low wages, decreasing students, does
not change, are aviation schools becoming fewer and fewer?

In my opinion there is no concentrated effort (conspiracy) to end GA,
but the list of negative factors combining to produce a downward trend
for the community all around is in my opinion quite extensive.

I can speak directly to the CFI question as I deal in this venue every
day.
The salary structure for CFI's unfortunately for the most part anyway,
for a long time now, has been geared toward the part timer as opposed
to the full time professional. The exact ramifications of this
situation and its effect on GA is beyond the limits of a mere posting
to a forum, but I will say I find the situation a negative in any
overall evaluation of the GA situation.

GA is definitely in for a hard road ahead in my opinion. The extremely
high costs vs the limited public access and required training can hold
few positive aspects for the community considering the current
economic situation.
Just my opinion of course.