HA.!!! Yet another reason that I did not install ADSB-out…!!!
You can see my mode -C, but not who I am.!
As others note, financial situations vary widely between airports. I would think fees would be most attractive to airports that have something to “sell”, for example one of the few SoCal airports that charge a landing fee is Catalina Island, KAVX, a privately-owned/public use facility. The fee, which pushes $40, doesn’t seem to be much of a turnoff because the destination itself is lovely and unique to the area. It also helps make up for their lack of government funding, but it’s doubtful many pilots even know that is the case. Imposing a fee at my home base, also privately owned & financed but open to public use, would only mean our stop-in traffic would drop to zero!
County and municipal governments also fund airports. If they can offset using taxes by collecting user fees from the folks who use the airports many will jump at the opportunity.
For example, politicians hear their constituents ask why should their taxes pay for a road or bridge they don’t use? The result is tolls.
True or not, the public considers flying is only for the rich folks who can pay for it. Even though most bass boats cost more than an average airplane.
Maybe the landing fees will offset the loss of income from reduced visits for fuel and services.
It certainly is an easy solution for the airport. They just sit back and let the money roll in.
It would be interesting to read Virtower’s proposal to the airports.
This is why my airplane will never have ADSB.
While I fully agree with the spirit of your comments, and hate to pick nits, let’s recognize that (like driving) flying is a privilege that is earned, not a freedom. I searched through the Constitution and couldn’t find any reference to an inalienable “right to freely wander,” nor to hold a pilot’s certificate, and (for better or worse) GA doesn’t have it’s own “Second Amendment” protections.
Again, I agree with the spirit of what you are saying, but let’s keep our freedoms and privileges in perspective.
Not certain if you are working from the same definition of GA as the rest of the world. If it isn’t military or scheduled air carrier (ie: American, United, Delta); it is GA. That includes literally everything that you are ignoring. Fire fighting, med-evac, agricultural, corporate, air charter, cargo, aerobatics, aerial photography, air taxi, bush flying, gliders, instruction, skydiving, police, search and rescue, hot air balloons, commuter, etc. You really think that EV is the end of all of this?
Here in the State of Washington, William Fairchild airport is using the same company to bill users of this airport. The private airport where I am based, W28, only allows touch and goes a day. How are we supposed to train our students?
The part of this story that catches my attention is the implication that the fees are intended to drive away the students, not to bring in any badly needed revenue. I believe the discussion about paying our fair share is irrelevant, and we should be more concerned about the stipulation that federal funding provided to municipal airports requires that all sectors of GA receive equal access to the airport and not be excluded. I would anticipate that this will be part of AOPA’s thrust as they launch a legal challenge to this practice.
This reminds me of the discussion several years back about the Illinois Tollway System considering using the toll booth data to send out speeding tickets to those who managed to get to the next toll booth a bit too soon. The general reaction was: You’re going to need a big box to hold all the transponders that will be returned the first time you do this.
Your post is absurd. Where do you think the future airline pilots come from? Police and ambulance helicopters? Fire fighting aircraft?
While we all yearn for improved technology, what we have now is pretty good. Your objection seems to be, while stupid, is the use of fossil fuels to power aircraft, large and small.
$3 per thousand pounds? This is what Torrance Airport in Sthn California has started charging. Of course, they want to close the city owned airport and this is another notch in their belt to make pilots go away.
I think that outfit should have to pay a $10,000/mo “user fee” for commercial use of ADS-B data. 
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If a private aircraft doesn’t pay and the airport uses a collection agency. Then the collection agency makes money and the airport looses money. There’s a lot of behind the scenes expenses collecting money. Just one law suite from mistaken identity (or midair) will use up all the tax collections. Airports should investigate the liability of fees. Just sayin’. 
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