Top 10 General Aviation Stories Of The Year

Here are the blockbuster aviation stories of a remarkable 2018 for GA.

Plane & Pilot

Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 05:08 AM ET

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Plane flies by control tower.

Key Takeaways:

Aviation in 2018 was marked by significant regulatory and technological challenges, including the successful defeat of ATC privatization efforts, ongoing issues with drone integration, and concerns over the looming ADS-B mandate deadline.
The year also celebrated notable triumphs, such as the Cirrus Vision Jet winning the Collier Trophy, advancements in affordable digital retrofit avionics, and record-breaking safety years for general aviation.
Key industry trends included a massive airline pilot hiring boom due to demographic shifts, the disruptive growth of drones with associated regulatory complexities, and the emergence of concepts for autonomous "Ubers of the Skies."
General aviation continued to face specific challenges regarding high FBO fees and the eventual closure or reduction of key airports like Santa Monica.

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7. A Long Goodbye For Santa Monica

Aerial view of Santa Monica airport — Santa Monica closed down its small GA airport.

After a harrowing back and forth with the city of Santa Monica, the FAA and the general aviation community, the city of Santa Monica, which clearly hates GA and cares not a whit for its rich aviation heritage, “won.” The FAA, which had previously been pushing Santa Monica to keep its small oceanfront GA airport open, swapped sides and without warning gave in to the city’s evil plan to shut down KSMO. The negotiated plan is for the city to lop off a third of the runway (to keep most light jets away) and to bulldoze the strip altogether by 2028, allowing pilots to enjoy SMO for another nine years before it becomes the latest downtown GA airport to go away.

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