RE:Cost of A320 & A350This excerpt from the article counters the argumrnt about expense. Plus the benefits of fuel saving and better maintenence planning.
Airlines typically operate on tight margins, so cost considerations may limit the use of such systems, barring an FAA mandate to install them. FLYHT’s Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS) product costs about $100,000 per aircraft. But Charlebois said it has already paid for itself. Beyond the black box function, the system allows ground crews and dispatchers to communicate with pilots via satellite from anywhere in the world. First Air crews have used it to avoid costly delays and diversions by directing pilots away from remote air bases that have been shut in by weather.