If you’ve paid much attention to general aviation industry news, you’ve probably heard of the recently announced EAGLE initiative involving the FAA and some industry groups. The initiative’s purpose derives from its acronym: Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions. Outgoing FAA Administrator Steve Dickson and the industry groups identified in the graphic below announced the effort in late February. The EAGLE initiative’s ultimate goal is to “safely eliminate the use of leaded aviation fuel by the end of 2030 without adversely affecting the existing piston-engine fleet.” Which is admirable. But there are a couple of problems.
First among them is the overwhelming sense of déjà vu I get from the idea the FAA and industry are banding together to resolve the leaded fuel problem. That’s because we’ve all been down this path before with something called PAFI, the Piston Aviation Fuel Initiative (PAFI), which goes back at least as far as 2014. It fell apart in 2018 when the agency suspended its evaluation efforts. Since then, nothing much has happened at the federal level or among industry groups.
