Satellite tracking to keep tabs on airliners over oceans

Admittedly speaking as a layman, nevertheless it seems that automatic GPS tracking of all commercial airline flights, over both sea and land, would today be both easy and cheap. If our phones, cameras, and cars can be tracked automatically and cheaply with GPS, why not our planes? It is an idea that needs to be implemented ASAP, IMO. The added cost per ticket should be less than 1 penny (1 yen) per ticket.

Right, they say that airliners can have a life of 20 years or more so changes might not come to every airliner. That's complete BS if you think that's true. To install that small tracking unit would be child's play compared to the work involved every time an airliner goes in for a complete inspection or when airlines update their cabins or in flight entertainment or add Wi-Fi, etc, etc, etc.

This new measure only has to do with money and forcing airlines to comply with ALL aircraft would be the solution. How much are lives worth today to airlines? Installing these tracking measures is like an insurance policy. If these airlines must look at everything in terms of money then think about how much money could be saved in searching for a lost aircraft if they knew pretty much were it was. This also would help if this system could not be deactivated by anyone on board in case the aircraft was ever hijacked.