Why can't private aircraft be more affordable?

Question

Why can't private aircraft be more affordable?

Answer 1

Personally, I think they have become more affordable.  You can pick up a used plane more reasonably priced than a car! True, fuel is expensive, but have you seen the price of gas today?  That's crazy.  It is still the best way to go if you need to get someplace specific fast!  The skies also continue to be to safest way to travel!  Go for it; you only live once.  Good luck.

Answer 2

There are some private aircraft that are comparatively affordable.  They are kit aircraft that can be out together by the purchaser with or without help from the kit manufacturer.  Usually this type aircraft is placed in what the FAA calls "experimental" category.  This category severely restricts who can be in the aircraft in flight and where the aircraft can fly.  Parts and materials for this type aircraft may not conform to FAA standards.  But experimental aircraft can be cheaper to construct.

Aircraft in the "standard" category are built in accordance with exact FAA rules and standards.  All parts and materials must conform to FAA standards and the manufacturer must also conform and be certificated in accordance with FAA standards, rules and regulations.  Aircraft in this category are not restricted.  Because of the manufacturer"s high costs to comply with the FAA regulations in labor, training, certification and the costs to insure such ventures, typical costs for "standard" category aircraft will always be expensive.

Answer 3

Market economics my man, market economics.

Answer 4

Because:

1) There will be not enough place to land and keep the aircrafts if there's so many of them

2) Fuel is expensive

3) Crash and accident

4) Pollution

Answer 5

because then everyone would have one

Answer 6

It's just the way the world is.  Flying is costly because not nearly as many people do it as drive cars.  So the economies of scale are not available.  Also, for your safety, the design, development, and ongoing maintenance of airplanes is tightly regulated by the FAA.  Aircraft mechanics bear much more responsibility than auto mechanics, and have to buy more expensive tools and facilities.  So they charge more per hour.

The business of inappropriate lawsuits is a problem, but not nearly as much so as it was 20 years ago.  In the long run, what happens for most people is that they just can't fly often enough to get their money's worth.  And you can't really use it for travel, either personal or business, until you have your instrument rating; even then there are plenty of occasions on which you can't go because of severe storms, icing, and other d**n things.

So it's just one of those kinds of things.

Answer 7

Car: Wheel falls off. you scrape to a halt.

Plane: Wheel Falls off, you can't land.

Car: Engine stalls, you're stranded on the side of a road till a passerby stops to help.

Plane: Engine stalls, you're stranded a swamp in florida hoping gators don't eat you.

Car: Bumper falls off, you hope no one noticed you leave it behind.

Plane: Tail falls off, you spiral into the earth at 188 mph.

In short, Build quality, redundant systems, safety, and reliability are MUCH more crucial in the aerospace industry.  Cheap Shoes?  No biggie.  Cheap Parachute....

Answer 8

Because of tort law in the US.  Years ago, a guy crashed a J-3 Cub and his wife sued Piper for making an "unsafe" design -- seems you can't see out of a tail-dragger when it's on the ground.

Of course, they've been that way since Piper built them in the 30's and this was the 80's...

So, because of stupid lawsuits like that, the liability is passed on to the consumer.

Answer 9

There are a number of things which have been mentioned as to why it is so expensive.  One of the first big ones was [and is] lawyers.  In the 1980's especially, a lot of blood thirsty, ambulance chasing leaches made frivolous lawsuits that nearly destroyed general aviation.  Most GA manufacturers either went out of business or changed to making mostly business aircraft.  The result was that any new aircraft that they did happen to make were extremely expensive.  A further result was that the aircraft already out there started going up in value since there weren't new aircraft being built to replace them.

The second big issue that someone already mentioned is the cost of compliance.  Aircraft parts are horribly expensive because of the quality assurance and product testing [and liability] that manufacturers must comply with.

The above are just purchasing and maintenance reasons.  An additional issue is cost of operation.  Aviation insurance, due to the same slimeball lawyers, is outrageous.

And fuel is very high as well [although car gas is  catching up quicker than AvGas is going up... woohoo, I'll fly more :)].  The high fuel price is likely due to a number of factors - the high octane requirement, the quality assurance requirement, the liability requirement, and the yummy tetraethyl lead.  A somewhat unintended result of high av gas costs has been that larger, more powerful aircraft are seeing some of their prices slip [on the used market].  For example, most people can't afford to feed a turbocharged Cessna 210 at 35 gph on climb out and 16-18 gph at cruise.

Answer 10

Why can't a Lamborghini be more affordable?