The EAA’s President and CEO predicts the full impact of LSAs in a decade
The EAA’s President and CEO had an interesting perspective on AERO Friedrichshafen. Tom Poberezny said it was great to see the LSA sector thriving. “We realised at the EAA some time ago that we were faced with a global phenomenon of dwindling and ageing numbers. One response was the Light Sport licence and aircraft.”Asked if he was pleased with the way LSAs were being adopted, Tom said, “This always was a 15-year program with three phases. We’re just now ending phase one, which is giving LSAs credibility and an infrastructure. Looking around me at AERO Friedrichshafen, I think both those goals have been amply achieved. “Phase two, which we are just beginning is to have a training infrastructure, and in this regard I think Cessna’s entry into the LSA market is critical. The third phase, which should begin around five years from now is when numbers of newly trained pilots will begin to meet numbers of second-hand LSAs just coming onto the market at affordable prices. In short, we’ve met expectations so far but the real benefit won’t become fully apparent for a decade.”
