Over the Airwaves
Should we stop flight training at larger airports?
The time is rapidly approaching when the traveling publics' intolerance of commercial air traffic delays and innate fear of small airplanes will force the removal of all VFR general aviation from in and around all Class B and C airports.
So why wait. Let's stop training in Class B and C airports, at least during peak operating times, before Senator Schumer and his hair-trigger congressional colleagues introduce legislation banning us from all but the smaller Class G airports.
Hmmmm . . . . I can see the email and chat forums now. "Miller has finally lost it. He's determined to ruin general aviation. Stop this man!" AOPA will likely be first in line to squash this supposedly mad idea!
But wait . . . before banishing me to cyberspace Patmos, think about the wisdom of becoming more sensitive to the growing needs of the national airspace system. Think about making maximum training use of our least busy airspace. Think about limiting our Class B & C flight training to non-peak hours.
But we need to provide flight training in and around large airports!
There is no question that every primary and instrument pilot should receive some initial and recurrent training in Class B and C operations. Frequent OTA readers know, for example, that I regularly conduct advanced training flights into the New York Class B airspace and along the congested VFR Hudson River corridor. So what gives? Are we to stop doing this?
Answer: No, of course not. But we should stop doing this during peak arrival and departure times of the day. These peak times are typically Monday through Friday from 7am to 10am and 3pm to 9pm. Individual airports differ, but you get the idea.
The resultant delays and additional risks are simply not worth it!
Let's face it. General aviation has become the whipping boy of commercial air travel. Whether it's the imposition of user fees or the march to close every little airport within 20 miles of a new residential area, general aviation does not need to further infuriate airline passengers (and the people they elect to Congress) waiting in line for departure while a Piper Warrior meanders down the final approach course with a ground speed slower than cars and trucks passing below.
GA induced delays at Class B and C airports is one thing. Near misses and collisions are quite another. Recall this past March when a United B-777 departing from the San Francisco International Airport (KSFO) nearly collided with a small Cessna aircraft passing through its departure course.
Or take the case of a Cessna 172 doing "touch and goes" on Runway 15 at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport (KBUR) this past April 19th. According to NTSB investigators, the Cessna came within 200 feet vertically and 10 feet laterally of a Southwest Airlines B-737 carrying 119 passengers while landing on an intersecting runway.
So why tempt fate. Why conduct flight training in and around big airports when there are 17,000 or more user friendly small GA airports and landing strips around the nation?
Let's accept the changing pace of the world around us.
Whether we like it or not, our father's era of aviation is over and done. We have entered a new era of zero tolerance for error and for inconvenience.
Larger Class B and C airports have, rightly or wrongly, become the domain of airline and air cargo operators with minimal participation by larger corporate flight departments. Anything other than that gets in the way. They slow things down, way down.
Let's also accept the fact that for every larger Class B and C airport in America, there are at least one-half dozen surrounding small Class G airports and, likely, a severely under-utilized Class D airport. Such is certainly the case here in Buffalo, NY.
To saddle the only Class B or C airport in a community with extensive flight training is simply asking for trouble. Worse . . . . far worse, should the day comes when an airliner suffers a substantial delay by or, perish the thought, direct damage from a GA aircraft at a Class B or C airport, we ALL will pay a very, very heavy and permanent price.
In summary, we GA pilots should strive to become part of the solution to the rapidly increasing congestion around our nation's larger Class B and C airports. We have thousands of smaller Class D, E, and G airports anxiously awaiting our business.
Let's take our flight training out of the larger Class B and C airports and put it where it originally began . . . . at least during peak hours. By so doing, we will help to protect the rights of all GA aircraft to use Class B and C airports any time of day for non-training purposes.
Fly safely,
Bob Miller, ATP, CFII