you can bet that irrational or not, he IS comparing the mobile phone versus aircraft and is not impressed to learn that apparently the desired safety level comes at too high a cost. might not market forces drive a change before long?
It isn't a cost issue, as I already outlined. It is a political issue. Real time monitoring would require a new aviation band allocation. The international bun fight over allocation of available radio bands favours telecommunications companies seeking profits: Non-proifit, non-military use is pushed aside in the scramble.
As slats11 puts it:
Communication technology continues to evolve rapidly. What seems expensive or not practical or not justified on a cost:benefit analysis today may (probably will) soon become routine.
Even today there are handheld units that cost a few hundred $ (e.g. Spider tracks) that determine GPS location every minute and transmit it via Iridium at a few cents a message.
That says it all. Entertainment and other frivoluous use of the limited radio spectrum takes priority over aviation and we have lost so many frequency bands already: there just isn't an available channel for data telemetry - or any other additional aviation communications use.
Hell, we are beginning to have our
airspace invaded by uncontrolled UAVs. [Yes they are just big-boys' toys, but still capable of bringing down an aircraft.]