FXSTD – Alternative Energy Center

By: Chris Narfundle
General aviation encompasses charter flights, bush flights, gliding, police, fire and emergency ambulance services, as well as any unscheduled flights with commercial airlines. In most countries, business jets and cargo jets are under the same regulations as most regularly scheduled commercial flights. Bush flying and air ambulances, charter flights and gliders have lower expectations and guidelines. They use smaller, often private, airports, and are subject to less government regulation.

Three quarters of all the planes that take off and land in the U.S. are general aviation planes. The National Air Transportation Committee says that general aviation pumped about $100 billion into the nation’s economy last year alone.

In recent years, security on general aviation flights has become increasingly important. However, the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) is busy checking people’s bags so they can load a commercial flight, and has little time for making monitoring the general aviation facilities. Therefore, generally speaking, small airport operators shoulder the bulk of the security burden for general aviation.

Still, there are lots of good reasons to use general aviation. Skipping the commercially scheduled flights and snagging a chartered jet or private plane to your nearest vacation spot can be a tempting proposition, especially in these days of higher prices and increased regulation on commercial flights.

For starters, if you rent a charter plane or have a personal plane, you are in control of and are responsible for, your own flight. You won’t run into a pilot canceling a flight or flight attendants at the end of their patience. Generally speaking, you’ll also have the pick of the seats in the plane, and there isn’t a bad view if they’re all window seats.

With general aviation flights, you are free from the “3 ounce restriction” on personal care products that the TSA has for commercial airlines. What’s more, many airlines are now charging for each bag, as well as charging an additional fee for a window seat or an aisle seat. These are non-issues with general aviation.

Besides being in control of your own flight, you set the schedule for your arrival and return. With airlines cutting capacity and sending flights to fewer and fewer destinations, you spend more time in the airport waiting for flights. With general aviation, you can leave after morning rush hour traffic if you’d like, or you can leave before anyone else is up. And, you’re not bound to an airline with a non-refundable ticket when they randomly choose to cancel or postpone a flight.

With small, general aviation airports all over the world, you don’t have to settle for landing at the nearest “big city.” A general aviation plane can land at any of the thousands of smaller airports. This could mean leaving from a spot closer to home, and will almost surely mean arriving at a spot closer to your destination.