A few days before the throngs arrived in Atlanta the word spread that Cessna was making moves on Columbia Aircraft.  Some could not believe what they were hearing as never before had Cessna marketed an aircraft that had not been born in Cessna's engineering department.

In 1985 Cessna suspended production of their entire piston engine line of aircraft.  In 1985 the airframe technology was old and most of the aircraft could trace their heritage back to the 1940s and 50s.  When piston production began again in the 1990s all but three of the models were dropped and the revamped versions of the new 172, 182, and 206 were new only on the inside with updated avionics and some interior redesign.

Along came Cirrus with a sleek composite airframe and the interior of a Porsche.  Cessna's position as king of the single engine market fell to second place.  Rumors abounded about a buyout of Cirrus by Cessna but nothing ever came of it as Cirrus's market share continued to rise.  In the meantime, the engineers in the Cessna "Skunk Works" were madly working on a Cirrus killer, but when it flew over the crowd at Oshkosh (see above) it looked to some like a strutless 172.  (Remember the Cardinal?)  Perhaps the Columbia will be the long awaited Cirrus killer.  If not a killer, at least a good competitor, if only Cessna can overcome the "not-invented-here" syndrome.

While sitting in a meeting at the NBAA trade show I heard an announcement that the User Fee meeting would start in 10 minutes.  Only a few minutes later I overheard someone grumble that NBAA was proposing a dues increase in order to fight ATA's (the airline trade association) $11 million battle to shift more of the cost of ATC to business jets.

I have written about the serious system capacity problems in Hangar Talk several times, most recently Of Vacuum Tubes and Sealing Wax.  The delays that everyone who has flown anywhere this year are legendary.  While I was in Atlanta President Bush called the DOT Secretary, Mary Peters, to the White House wood shed and said, "Fix it."  The last time we had a serious airspace capacity problem was when Reagan fired the striking air traffic controllers.  The solution was called GAR, General Aviation Reservations.  All general aviation including business jets were required to reserve space in advance for their flights.  The airlines flew as scheduled.  The FAA has a solution but it won't be ready until 2025, and considering the FAA's track record, I would not bet on that date.

If you are interested in learning how the views of some experienced and respected individuals outside of government feel the problem can be solved, read Of Vacuum Tubes and Sealing Wax.  Alfred Kahn, the father of airline deregulation, led off with a powerful argument in favor of changing the governance of ATC.  I was humbled and honored to be a part of this distinguished group.  If you click on the link above to read what I had to say, be sure and click on the links contained in the article.