Variables Remain For Introduction of Very Light Jets, Gov't Auditors Find

For several years, a number of aviation manufacturers have been designing and testing very light jets, a type of small jet aircraft equipped with advanced technologies and priced below other business jets. Aviation forecasters predict that thousands of very light jets will enter the National Airspace System (NAS) over the next two decades, contributing to the overall growth of the general aviation fleet, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.

GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

While some experts predict that very light jets will be used in ways that are similar to current general aviation aircraft, others predict that they will be used to expand the air taxi market to provide on-demand, point-to-point air transportation, GAO says.

In 2006, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified the first very light jets for flight.

"The impact of very light jets on FAA’s costs and Trust Fund revenues will depend on factors such as the number of very light jets deployed, the extent to which they replace existing aircraft, and whether they facilitate a large-scale air taxi industry," the GAO report says. "The Congress is considering legislation that could affect how very light jets are taxed but, as with the current funding structure, there is too much uncertainty about very light jets to accurately compare the revenue effects of these proposed alternative funding structures."

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