The decommissioning is part of a cost-cutting measure which the government claims will save $190 million over five years. Today many pilots use GPS, but a few still utilize loran. There are currently a limited number of potential backups for GPS, loran being one of them.

If the decommissioning goes forward, it is unclear which systems will be available in the event of a GPS outage.

Over the years, AOPA has cautioned the U.S. Coast Guard, which maintains loran, not to make a decommissioning decision until a comprehensive backup plan is in place. Questions remain about whether a backup is needed and if it could be loran.

(Source: AOPA)