Sound of Silence

When I first heard about the volcanic ash cloud grounding civil air traffic, it occurred to me that with spring starting and that the prevailing wind would normally be flowing from west to east, that it would last longer than a day or two. As my better half's farther was travelling back from America, my initial priority was to let her know as this would impact her directly.

However, while it has caused inconvenience and real distress for some people, it has real real benefits too. Not least the sound of silence that has given people a taste of what life would be like without the relentless sounds of aircraft.

The longer this ash cloud grounds aircraft the harder it will be for people to accept that pollution again once flights resume. If we take a location like Heathrow in London where there is an aircraft movement every ninety seconds from half past five in the morning, this sudden silence will have only served to highlight what millions have lost because of air travel.

As with a lot of adverse effects, as the volume of air traffic has built up over a long time, several decades, many people will not know or remember what life was like without that constant sound pollution. Therefore this reminder of what life could be like could well boost the opposition to the third runway at Heathrow.

A major problem is simply that far to many aircraft leave half full. This was how the low cost airlines started, by lowering fairs to get people in those empty seats. But even now there can be aircraft movements where the aircraft has only one passenger, or worse with none. As simply to retain their landing or take off slot, the airline has to move that aircraft. Fail to use their allocated and valuable slot they loose it.

I have no idea how long this ash cloud will prevent aircraft to fly, but the longer that aircraft are grounded, the less people will tolerate a return to the status quo. Further, the longer this continues the more likely that airlines, already struggling because of the recession, will go bust. While the loss of jobs will have a negative personal effect, overall it is likely to dramatically change the way that we allow air travel to exist.

This could and should include not allowing aircraft to fly near empty. That would reduce the number of aircraft movements needed with a potential of reducing carbon emissions by at least a third, and eliminating the need for a third runway at Heathrow. Additionally if the ash cloud does persist for many months it would mean that there will be political pressure for better internal transport links within the UK, predominantly rail, and the high speed rail link.

Often much business travel is unnecessary, and with the good information technology links that exist, video conferencing is actually a better option. But often business people see business travel as one of the perks of the job. Even though it has a dubious economic benefit for the business. But like so many aspects of air travelling people have accepted so much in an unquestioning manner.

It is bizarre that we allow ourselves to be treated like bovine creatures, packed into cramped seats, and herded around in an abusive way at airports. Yes it is fast and convenient, but as the blissful silence that many millions are experiencing, shows that the pollution and inconvenience of many is for the benefit of the minority.

I am well aware that I don't make myself popular for saying this, but I really do expect the ash cloud to disrupt air travel for the next few months at least and hope that this disruption changes the attitude to air travel. I for one am just enjoying hearing the birds sing.