I don't think it's really intentional. Most of the aviation industry would love to get rid of the burden that is leaded avgas. Not to mention the environmentalists, health departments etc.
The problem is just that the rules for larger aircraft apply to general aviation too. And the margins there aren't high enough to pay for all the certification. So we're stuck with 1950s tech which would never pass certification today but did at one time in history. It's weird how regulations supposedly intended to make things better are holding us back and stopping innovation to make things safer, more sustainable and efficient.
I think you're right about "most of the aviation industry". From a regulatory approach if they ever approve a new GA powerplant and something happens, they'll be considered responsible. So long as they don't approve anything it's unlikely to come back on them.
It doesn't hurt that some of the industry loves selling 1930s technology at a premium price.
> From a regulatory approach if they ever approve a new GA powerplant and something happens, they'll be considered responsible.
I don't think this is the problem. GA is a fringe phenomenon anyway. Look at what happened with the 737MAX. The FAA hardly got any of the flak and they didn't even care enough to certify it themselves, they just let Boeing sign off on their own product.
If something happens with a GA powerplant no way anyone would blame the FAA. It didn't even happen for the 737MAX where hundreds of people literally died. And for GA the damage/life-loss impact would be much much lower.
It's just the cost, if you make 1000 jet engines a year that sell for $10 million each then yeah it's easily justifiable. If you sell 500 GA engines for $100k it's much harder.
Look at Rotax for example. They're doing good business, their engines are much more modern than Lycoming and the like, they run on unleaded petrol, and they are reliable workhorses. But the ultralight market simply has much lower regulatory requirements. This is why innovation still happens.
I think it's time to stop holding a 4-seater 100 knot cruise aircraft to the same standards as a 300 seater jet airliner. It'll be good for safety because people will actually use things designed in this century, good for the environment and good for aviation in general.
