Fuel issues will ground the airline industry
Anthony Perl and Richard Gilbert add some weight to my recent comments about the future of the airline industry.
Last week, the chief financial officer of American Airlines Tom Horton said “there really is no playbook now for $110 a barrel oil.”
They argue that we are going to need to use buses and trains a lot more. This idea will not sit well with the “business as usual” folk but it is inevitable that the days of the cheap airline ticket are over. It is going to take time to get all this organised, and we should already be moving. But governments, chambers of commerce and boards of trade are still talking about airport expansions and better road connections for them.
It is not just here either. One of the really big issues at present in London is the proposal for yet another runway at Heathrow.
Sadly our political elites are still behind the times. Their idea of planning is still based on “previous trends recover and continue” not that we have entered a new era, that demands fresh thinking. Although to be fair, the idea that Canada needs decent passenger trains is hardly new. It just has not occurred to the governments and railway operators yet.
T5 launch marred by delays and cancellations
I do not often resort to blogging about blogging. But this is an exceptional case. Anyone who tries to keep a daily journal, or newspaper or any other medium, is going to cast about for “content” every so often. And BA really did its best to get bloggers interested in its new terminal at Heathrow, London’s largest airport. I got emails from someone there who offered me all kinds of material and “insider access” ahead of its opening. I will also admit I did ask if they would send me air tickets to attend some of their media events. I was not all surprised to learn that was not, unfortunately, possible even though I was willing to fly tourist.
Heathrow Terminal 5 under construction 2007/03/09
I have not flown by BA in recent years, so I did not use T4 - their previous Heathrow home. Air Canada flies into T2 which approaches the third circle of hell as far as my experience there is concerned. Overcrowded, long line ups for both security and overpriced coffee, immensely long treks to the gates, and nowhere quiet to sit if you did not qualify for a VIP lounge. And never once did I experience a flight delay or baggage loss, but I still did not like it.
Not all the problems on opening day were due to BA or BAA not being ready. A “a flash-mob of 250 environmental campaigners” didn’t really help - but then given the current level of frustration over the proposed third runway, some kind of event should have been anticipated. But the excuses for 2 hour luggage delays - and flight cancellations - really do sound a bit thin. And no doubt it will get better in time.
But as we note here from time to time, business as usual is no longer an option. Airport and freeway expansions in a world that is losing its ice coverage and running out of fossil fuel are not really appropriate responses to continuing rises in transportation demand. I do feel genuinely sympathetic to the unfortunate travellers promised much and disappointed - and hope that BA cares enough to give them a coupon or something (their usual response to cock ups, like being caught price fixing). But on the whole I cannot help but feel a touch of schadenfreunde.
Update - March 28 problems continue
March 29 and get worse
Airships from Oxford to Cambridge
It has been quite a while since I have seen anything about airships. So this story from the BBC caught my eye.
There is not a direct train service between these two cities (it was withdrawn in 1967) but at least one proposal wants to revive the line
I am not a betting man, but it seems to me that the railway might be more likely - though both are long shots
Green activism
You will probably have seen the to and fro with the Bus Rider’s Union. Basically what it comes down to is how long do you try to work within the system, and when do you resort to direct action.
This article from the Observer focuses attention on “Plane Stupid” - a small group opposed to the expansion of a cheap flights industry that has seen very rapid growth in Britain in recent years
Their 150 or so members represent a new generation of green activists, many of whom grew up with one eye on the Reclaim the Streets anti-road movement of the Nineties, were involved in Iraq protests and believe direct action is now the only way forward. ‘Our members have become radicalised because they marched against Iraq and wrote letters and did all the things they were supposed to do, and it didn’t make any difference,’ says Garman. ‘We’re not going to let that happen with climate change. There’s the real sense that we’re the last generation - if we don’t do it, no one else will.’
In the great tradition of the British Sunday paper, this is a hefty article, from the magazine section. We simply do not get journalism like this here. The only paper on Sundays here is the Province! You should have time to read all of this.
I tend to agree that the rapid expansion of the airlines in Britain would not have happened if the UK government had followed a sensible transport policy. Blair did not reverse the disastrous privatisation of British Rail - probably because of fears of the cost of compensation to shareholders. But the contrast to France is stark. There the government promoted TGV (High Speed Trains) and the short haul airlines virtually shut down.
What is generating animosity towards the cheap airlines is their impact on climate change. This is now the number one issue. (Although, speaking only for myself, I feel that having lots of concerts all at once seems unlikely to have any effect. After all Live Aid was once a similar Big Deal but babies are still starving to death in Africa.) Will this small dedicated group change behaviour?
Runway fight heats up as BAA buys out homeowners
More on the expansion of Stansted airport. I am sorry if this appears to be a bit of a personal obsession of mine, but I used to live in that part of the world. Essex has a very undeserved reputation and some of the villages and countryside north of Epping are quite lovely, if in a rather understated sort of way.
If I was just concerned about personal convenience, travelling to Stansted airport would have saved me a lot of time. No regular services from Canada go there - though some charters at peak season might - which is not when or how I travel.
Mostly it is about the way BAA behaves. As though runway expansion is a done deal and it does not have to wait until it has all the approvals in place before it starts buying out the neighbours. Kevin Falcon is not the only one who behaves in this way.
Bird trouble
Airport staff scared two million birds (some were chased multiple times) away from the runways using pyrotechnics, sirens, lights, propane cannons, and two border collies, up from 1.6 million in 2005 and one million in 2002.
There is a significant absence from this list and one of the most effective ways of reducing the need to shoot birds. And we have known about this method for a long, long time.
Birds were a real problem at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London’s Hyde Park. Paxton’s magnificent Crystal Palace not only enclosed some live trees but also their bird inhabitants. They could not be shot without breaking the glass, and no-one had any idea what to do. So Queen Victoria consulted the elder statesman, and retired general, The Duke of Wellington. He had a simple answer.
“Sparrowhawks, Ma’am”
Trained falcons are in use at Toronto Pearson. Knowledge Network had a very good documentary about them recently, made several years ago. And in 1988 a review found the methodology worked well
Evaluation. – There is a sound biological basis to the use of falconry for bird control. Pest birds
are readily dispersed by falcons and will not habituate because the threat is real. Allowing a
falcon to kill a pest bird on occasion strengthens the threat. The fact that falconry is a “hands on”
technique that is deployed selectively further enhances it effectiveness over an automatic product
that is controlled by a timer.
Experienced handlers and trained raptors are required; neither may be available on short
notice. Raptors can not be used at night, or during periods of high winds or heavy rains.
Recommendation. – Falconry is recommended as a highly effective component of an airport bird
control program. Falconry can be used in conjunction with other deterrent techniques.
Why not here?
Trees v travel: campaigners take on industry over airport expansion
John Vidal and Dan Milmo
Tuesday May 29, 2007
The Guardian
A public enquiry is going to be held on the expansion of Stansted Airport. This is north east of London and the most recent of London’s major airports. It is one of the cheaper options and is therefore very popular with the budget airlines to Europe.
Campaigners say the government’s 2010 target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% is contradicted by its aviation policy, which is committed to new runways at Heathrow and Stansted if environmental standards are met. “At the heart of this issue is the contradiction between the government’s aviation policy and its climate change policy,” said Brian Ross, of the Stop Stansted Expansion campaign.
This does sound familar doesn’t it. Just like the BC government’s declaration of a new climate change policy and its old highways expansion policy. (Actually, MoTH never changes any of its policies or plans when governments change. It has been operating in the same way for years and sees no reason why it should change now. It is the ministry that builds highways, first and foremost. Anything else is a distraction.)
The airport expansion threatens an old growth forest (even rarer in Britain than here) but the novelty the Guardian grabs onto is the potential appearance of a former minister from Greenland - an Inuit.
Aqqaluk Lynge, president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and a former minister in the government of Greenland, is also expected to make an appearance during the inquiry to argue against the expansion.
And the potential for the melting of the Greenland ice sheet is one of those eventualities that climate change scientists really worry about. Because once that goes, it seems doubtful if the warming can be reversed.
JetBlue employees arrested for credit card fraud
I cannot for the life of me think why this falls into the “oddly enough” category
But I don’t think this would happen at WestJet.
But I have had a boarding card “retained” by an over officious “security” person at YVR. A whole bunch of them were standing around doing nothing as the line got longer and she didn’t like the fact that I drew attention to it. Of course, she denied it when challenged.
Airships
I suppose it is inevitable. Anyone, like me, who likes sailing ships, steam engines and trams is going to be intrigued by airships. This post calls them “blimps” but those are different. A blimp was originally a tethered balloon, unpowered, used to hang cables in the hope of interfering with low flying bombers. They were used in the Second World war as part of Britain’s air defences. The extent of the destruction London suffered is mute testament to their effectiveness - or rather lack of it. Low, the cartoonist created a character called Colonel Blimp who was the archetypal aged English military twerp. It now also applies to airships that have no internal structure. They are very useful as stable observation platforms and are much cheaper than geostationary satellites, though less discreet.
A dirigible airship or “Zeppelin” is a different matter. Because it uses lighter than air helium gas to provide lift, energy is only needed for propulsion, so they are highly efficient but slow. But as E M Forster predicted they could still be the method of transport in the future. No vapour trails, not much greenhouse gas compared to a jumbo jet. Sybaritic luxury like a cruise ship. Maybe speed may not be essential in a world with instant low cost broad band communication. I am not convinced that the withdrawal of Concorde was actually much of a hardship
But mainly I picked out this story through stumbling. Serendipity. I thought it was hilarious and could even be true. Brilliantly written too.
Authorities propose increasing use of Vancouver International’s northern runway
NavCanada officials said Wednesday they are examining a number of proposals involving increased takeoffs from the north runway at Vancouver International Airport as part of plans for improving efficiency there.
The proposals involve allowing between 20 and 45 per cent of departures to use the runway, those headed for northerly and westerly destinations. That would include jet and propeller aircraft headed for Europe, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Orient, as well as Canadian cities such as Prince George and Edmonton.
The north runway, which is closer to houses than the main south runway, is currently restricted to use between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. except during emergencies or maintenance of other runways, or by the quietest of the modern aircraft. The vast majority of its use is for landings
…
“It is a two-runway airport,” added NavCanada service analyst Rob Bishop “At some point we must use both runways to full capacity.”
I used to live under the flight path of the north runway. Over five years ago but even then it was awful. And we lived off No 5 Road. At the airport end of Bridgeport it was much worse. And sure newer planes are quieter, but you would be surprised how long old planes keep going - and the hours that the older planes used for air freight keep. And if you ask why I would choose to live in such a place, you only have to look at the cost of housing and the shortage of available to places to rent, especially if you own a dog. BC still has not established the right of tenants to own animals (something Ontario did years ago). So putting up with aircraft noise was the price we had to pay to keep a member of our family.
Perhaps we need to utilise some of the data we have readily to hand to calculate what the benefit of more flights costs society at large. I find it hard to believe that the needs of a realtively small number of air travellers outweigh those of the population of north Richmond and south Vancouver.
