This is very good news, especially for the general aviation community. There are only 40 frequencies approved for Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) that provide precision vertical guidance during an IFR approach. That, combined with an ILS installation cost in the 6 figures per runway end and you just don't have a lot of precision approaches available around the country. WAAS will change that. Using GPS signals combined with boosted signals from a couple geosynch satellites, precision approaches will soon be possible where they didn't exist before. Non-precision approaches don't provide vertical guidance, so they have higher minimum altitudes and visibility requirements and are tougher to execute. WAAS approaches should be a big boost to GA safety. This may also help airlines that serve smaller communities. A lot of them don't have precision approaches.

Already, the first certified WAAS receivers are available from UPS Aviation Technologies and will soon be available from other companies. Hmmm, my daughter-in-law is a corporate attorney for UPS. Maybe she can help me get a discount....