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This is one of those things that you assume is going to happen eventually no matter what. Why not just do it now?

That's not necessarily meant to be flippant; it's a real question: what unknowns have dissuaded us from doing this until now? Are they resolved now? Would they be resolved in the future given some kind of delay until this (inevitably) happens?

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The major unknown that prevented this until now was the average age of the people working at the FAA. For a long time any request for something unusual was met with the simple response, "No". The FAA's mandate is safety, and they could justify disallowing new things for the sake of safety. They've finally realized that this is inevitable, and they can't just say "No" forever. A lot of the old guard is retiring, and the newer employees are figuring out how to integrate new technology safely.

the average age of the people working at the FAA

That's ageism, plain and simple. I hope you don't ever have to hire people, or you'll get your company fined.

This was a very polite version of what an FAA employee told me.

and if she'd told you it was all the fault of blacks / gays whatever ?

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