Here are 12 examples of slippery slope fallacies from the point of view of a pro-aviation advocate trying to debunk anti-aviation statements:

1. Consolidated Flight Paths

"If we start moving flight paths away from communities, pretty soon we’ll have to stop flying over any residential areas at all, which would cripple the entire national airspace system."

This argument suggests that a simple adjustment to flight paths would lead to an extreme scenario where flights are banned over all residential areas, which is highly unlikely.

2. Inefficient Community Roundtables

"If we let communities have too much influence in roundtables, they’ll eventually demand that airports close completely, which would devastate the local economy and make air travel impossible."

This assumes that giving communities more input in decision-making will inevitably lead to extreme and unreasonable demands, such as shutting down airports.

3. Night Curfews

"If we implement night curfews at one airport, soon every airport will want one, and eventually, we won’t have any nighttime flights at all, which will ruin global commerce and emergency services."

This implies that allowing curfews at one airport will set off a chain reaction leading to the elimination of all nighttime flights, an exaggeration of the likely outcome.

4. Cap on Operations

"If we put a cap on the number of flights, it will open the door to putting caps on other industries too, eventually leading to a halt in all economic activity."

This argument stretches the idea of flight caps to an absurd extreme, suggesting it would lead to overly restrictive limits on all industries.

5. Frequency of Flights

"If we reduce the number of flights in certain areas to reduce noise, it’s only a matter of time before we’ll be forced to reduce flights everywhere, and air travel will become too expensive and rare."

This exaggerates the idea that limiting flights in noise-sensitive areas would lead to widespread reductions in air travel, making it inaccessible to most people.

6. Regulatory Capture

"If we allow communities to push back on the FAA and aviation regulations, the next step will be for them to take control of all regulatory decisions, which will dismantle the entire aviation industry."

This fallacy assumes that any success in influencing aviation regulations will lead to an extreme scenario where communities have full control over the entire regulatory process.

7. Aviation Lobbyism

"If we limit the influence of aviation lobbying groups, soon we’ll be banning all aviation associations from having any say in policy, which will stifle innovation and lead to the collapse of private aviation."

This argument suggests that restricting lobbyism by aviation groups will lead to the collapse of the entire aviation advocacy ecosystem, which is an unlikely progression.

8. Climate Goals and Aviation Growth

"If we curb aviation growth to meet climate goals, soon we’ll be forced to stop all commercial air travel entirely, which will isolate countries and destroy the global economy."

This slippery slope fallacy assumes that taking reasonable steps to control aviation emissions will lead to the extreme and unrealistic outcome of eliminating commercial air travel altogether.

9. Noise Complaints

"If we start addressing noise complaints individually, it won’t stop until we have to ground all planes in noise-sensitive areas, which will make air travel impossible for millions of people."

This fallacy suggests that addressing legitimate noise complaints will lead to extreme measures like banning flights entirely in affected areas.

10. Touch-and-Go Operations (Flight Schools)

"If we limit flight schools from doing touch-and-go operations because of noise, it will soon lead to banning all flight training, and eventually, we won’t have any trained pilots for future generations."

This exaggerates the impact of limiting touch-and-go operations, suggesting it would cripple flight training and the entire pilot pipeline.

11. Airport Expansion

"If we block airport expansion due to community complaints, soon every airport will be unable to expand, and eventually, we’ll have no capacity to handle growing demand, crippling global travel."

This reasoning assumes that stopping one expansion will lead to a chain reaction that will prevent all airports from expanding, which would devastate global air travel.

12. Alternative Fuels

"If we push airlines too hard to adopt alternative fuels, it won’t be long before we’re forcing them to eliminate flights altogether, which would collapse the aviation industry and hurt travelers worldwide."

This fallacy assumes that pushing for more sustainable fuels will lead to the extreme outcome of eliminating flights, ignoring the middle ground of gradual improvement.

These examples illustrate how aviation promoters may use slippery slope arguments to exaggerate the consequences of reasonable anti-aviation proposals, painting them as leading to catastrophic and unlikely outcomes.