ARFOR
I understand your burning desire to only list those airports that serve aircraft of Part 121 carriers with 31 seats or more. This is an unfortunate, misguided and deliberate attempt to mislead the unsuspecting reader.
And by the way, I don’t know why you care what airports aren’t in the contiguous U.S but you might check the location of Long beach California (LBG).
Part 139-airport class classification, has absolutely NOTHING to do with airspace determination. Part 139 details airport specifications for airports wishing to serve air carrier operations. Simply put, Class 1 for Part 121 > 30 seats, Class 2 for Part 121 < 30 seats.
Many class 1 airports serving high capacity RPT jets in the United States are in fact CTAF and Class E over D towered airports.
I WILL REPEAT THIS FACT:
Class D towers alone in the US handled over 200,000 AIR CARRIER operations with over 10 million passengers.
Your post compares some of our bigger airports that have similar aircraft movements to ones in the United States. It shows admirably that we have Class C appropriately allocated to these busy airports when compared to the U.S. Well done.
Here is another accurate comparison, like for like as you say.
Broome CTAF
36,162 movements, Aprx 410,000 pax 2007 (CASA aeronautical study)
Eagle/Vail non radar, E over D
36,417 movements 430,686 pax 2008 (FAA/ KEGE airport)
Pretty similar aren’t they?
One country's airspace has been assigned on the basis of a scientific Cost Benefit Analysis. Can you guess which one?
Projected cost of lives lost over 15 years (at Aprx USD $1m per life) divided by the cost of saving those lives by upgrading the airspace. Obviously the cost of upgrading the Eagle airports class D to Class C is significantly less than 1 when divided into the projected cost loss of lives.
Why you rant on and on about TRSA surrounding class D in the U.S. is perplexing. The first TRSA was established back in the early 1980’s prior to the FAA using the ICAO class A-G airspace classification and prior to the FAA adopting their current scientific Cost Benefit Analysis.
Contrary to what you believe, TRSA’s are NOT being upgraded to class C. Some class D airports get upgrade to class C only after a Cost Benefit Analysis has been performed weather there is an existing radar facility (TRSA) or not. Just like Class C airspace will be upgraded to Class B when traffic levels justify it.
Howabout
I apologise if my comments appeared as combative. That was not my intention. Sometimes as you know in these contentious debates, strong assertions can sometimes be lost in a somewhat venomous tone. This detracts from the evidence offered. I’m sorry.
You say
What idiot would support an E service, that allows VFRs to mix it with IFRs with no separation, when a C service can be provided from the same resource base?
As and RPT airline pilot, I SUPPORT Class E. It is truly extraordinary that any reasonable thinking person can say that there can only be Class C and Class G and NOTHING in between in the terminal or enroute environment. What a remarkably illogical thing to say.
Why can I not get positive IFR and terrain separation in places like Proserpine, Ballina and even Canberra after hours? Because fundamentalist cannot accept that E is perfectly safe and insist that G is somehow magically the safer class of airspace.
Surely you can see that if the currently assessed risk of collision is so remote in these places as to warrant class G, then it would then be that much safer for IFR to have class E?
My suspicion is however, that Australia is completely devoid of any real scientific risk assessment when it comes to airspace.
Chimbu Chuckles
Having (Hicap/RPT) jets outside controlled airspace on climb/descent, the highest workload phases, just defies any logic. There is not a SINGLE good reason that justifies the additional risk no matter how small YOU deem it to be. Its stupid, its irrational - its moronic!
I agree. Can you tell me why I have to fly a Boeing in radar covered Class G airspace in Australia?
Why after 15 years since its introduction, am I not able to fly through Class E instead of Class G in radar covered airspace along the J Curve?
Is it because fundamentalist have stomped there feet, covered their ears, closed there eyes and repeated often enough…. Not class E, we’ll all die!
Stick to your guns Chimbu! If you say it enough times class G will magically become safer than E, but only if you
really, really believe it. Good luck!