Comments

The FAA collects and manages the data either way. It's paid for out of taxes and the FAA funding. Distribution is a separate issue and is what should drive the price of paper and/or soft charts. The price of paper charts should be based on printing and distribution costs for those charts. If demand dwindles, price should go up. Similarly, and totally independently, the price for downloadable charts should be based on the production and distribution costs specific to this delivery method, as well as demand. The cat is already out of the bag - the cost of making software charts available is relatively negligible compared to costs of printing and distributing paper charts. It's simply the cost of maintaining the website, internet connection, and data repository divided by the number of users. It's so inexpensive, and so much easier on the government, that until now they've chosen to make them available free. So demand for paper charts must be taking a nose dive and I'm sure Jeppesen is upset that this is taking a bite out of their sales too - both paper and soft format (both outrageously priced, IMHO). Welcome to the new economy, Uncle Sam. Same issue record companies, book and newspaper publishers, movie and TV producers, and telecom vendors are facing. I can see it now - you can choose to watch a 30 second commercial before your approach plate comes up...or chose to pay a nominal fee. 1/2 :-)