Private Aviation kills French Government

Greg Faris wrote:
Honestly, I feel small, private planes are not targeted by this whole
thing, but I would not want to be CEO of Gulfstream right now, even
though they are predicting a bright future in the immediate and
short-term. Things could always turn around, but with so much focus on
wealth disparities, the private jet is just an easy target.

Can't disagree with that sentiment at all.

Though those of us with smaller planes may not be intentionally
targeted, neglect and incomprehension mean we will be hit more by
environmental, insurance and just "plane old" spiraling costs.

No argument.

When I tell people I like to travel, insofar as possible, by private
plane, I usually get a long stare of incredulity as they try to
process that incongruous piece of data. It’s somewhere between "Are
you rich?" and "Are you out of your mind?"

I haven't run into that as such, but have run into mild variants.

I have a sister-in-law who seems to have a mild fear of flying. She'll fly,
but would rather avoid it. But - she met my brother while they were both in
the navy. He had a PPL and took her up on one flight in a small plane while
they were stationed in Spain. That was the first and last small plane
flight she took with him. They ended up married anyway. :-)

Even odder, her mother learned to fly on her own in the 1930s and later
became a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). I jokingly
asked her once whether she was really her mother's daughter. She was proud,
though, to go to Washington D.C. in March of 2010 to witness a belated
recognition (her mother deceased) of the WASPs service to their country.

I do manage to elicit a
glimmer of envy when I say I can fly wherever I want without having to
take my shoes off, no TSA agents barking at me, throw whatever I want
into the plane and not have to wait for baggage claim at the other
end, and soar over clogged roads thinking of people slugging it out
with the road-ragers beneath, but this quickly reverts to questions of
reason and responsibility, "Are you sure that’s safe?" and "What about
the environment?". Fortunately, most in the non-flying public have no
idea that piston airplanes still use leaded gasoline, else the
pressure would be even stronger to close smaller airports to build
wood pellet factories, because wood smoke is good for the environment.

Seems many people who I've talked to in the past about flying have said
they had toyed with the idea in varying measure. I think there is a latent
interest there that needs to be touched on anytime burdens are proposed.
People will likely oppose those things which may inhibit future dreams.