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 faced significant challenges including a failed attempt to privatize Air Traffic Control, impending ADS-B compliance deadlines, and contentious issues like high FBO fees and the closure of Santa Monica Airport.
The year also saw triumphs such as the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet winning the Collier Trophy, record-breaking safety statistics for general aviation, and the introduction of more affordable digital retrofit avionics.
Emerging technologies, particularly the rise of drones, presented major regulatory and integration complexities, while concepts for autonomous air taxis ("Ubers of the Skies") highlighted future, albeit speculative, shifts in air mobility.
A robust airline hiring market, driven by pilot retirements and increased demand, created highly favorable conditions and increased opportunities for qualified pilots.

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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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