Word: generality
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...phenomenal growth in general aviation in the U.S. has continued unabated for a decade. The category embraces everything from a $5,000 secondhand Piper Cub used for weekend joyrides to a $6.5 million, 18-seat Grumman Gulfstream executive jet crammed with the latest airborne electronics. In between are the twins, turboprops and smaller jets operated by some 2,200 air-taxi operators and 200 commuter airlines. This year alone, companies such as Cessna, Beech and Piper will deliver 18,000 aircraft worth $1.8 billion to customers around the country...
...vast majority of new planes are going to businessmen," says Ed Stimpson, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. One reason is that the nation's corporate structure is becoming increasingly decentralized, its manufacturing plants scattered around the country. Claims Stimpson: "The company plane is seen today as a vital business tool, a real timesaving machine...
While all of this is good news to the U.S. private-aircraft industry, it is putting increasing pressure on the nation's overcrowded airports. Nowhere is this more true than in California, which now has 113,000 certified pilots. Van Nuys airport, the busiest general aviation field in the U.S., is host to an army of 13,557 pilots and an armada of 1,260 planes. It is, in fact, the third busiest airport in the country, after Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta. By contrast, commercial airfields in the U.S. have shrunk from...
...small planes are inevitably involved in most of the accidents. Last year U.S. commercial airlines suffered only five fatal accidents, compared with 702 in general aviation. The difference can be explained partly by the airlines better pilot training, partly by better equipment. For an average fee of $1,500, any fit 17-year-old can sign up for 16 hours of classwork and 35 hours in the air at an FAA- approved school to obtain a private pilot's license. A commercial license requires more: between $3,500 and $4,000 and 250 hours of flight time...
...most strenuous lobbying campaigns since the passage of the Panama Canal treaties. "A Herculean lobbying effort," grumbled Democratic Senator Howard Metzenbaum, an opponent of the bill. "The Administration pressured every group to get them to pressure members of the Senate. They lined up the Business Roundtable and General Motors. They made it a patriotic issue to vote for this bill. The Administration put anything on the table to get votes. They really turned out the troops. How could any of us combat that kind of power...