[frontiersummit]

Why not cut back on general aviation flights first? My naive solution (granted I know little about ATC) would be to give commercial flights priority over GA flights if ATC is overloaded. No 8-seat business jet is more economically important than a 200-seat airliner. Say nothing of recreational piston-engine flights. At the very least slap a $5000 surcharge on every GA takeoff or something.

[Cyberdogs7]

Typically your single piston GA flight will be operating in very different airspace than a 200 seat airline. Just as you can't take a single piston pilot and put in as the pilot in command of a 200 person airliner, ATC personal are not easily hot swappable between airports or airspace.

[catminou]

GA folks generally aren't taxing the atc system. Most are vfr and not on a plan.

[kortilla]

Same fee for every aircraft. Increase until the congestion reduces. This is called a congestion tax, it works.

No need to distinguish between purpose of the flight. If it’s economically important, they will pay.

[catminou]

Canada already has a usage fee for using ATC services fwiw. Based upon type / weight and distance traveled you get charged per flight.

Same thing could be used here - not sure it's going to fix some of the fundamental issues of lack of staff and poor FAA management.

[Matheus28]

Piston-engine flights are the ones training future pilots…

[User23]

> No 8-seat business jet is more economically important than a 200-seat airliner

Devil's advocate: Prove it.