To fly or not to fly

[Trillian]

people keep saying they used to fly, and i've noticed my dad hasn't needed to travel as often as he used to.

clarkson, in a tribute to british engineering, said of concorde that it hadn't been abandoned because it's too fast, but because, in this world of video conferences and multi way international phone calls, business can be conducted from the office chair, it had to die because in the electronic age, it was too slow.

is that the future of international business? via the internet and phone? perhaps its for the best

 

[Keith Oates]

Internet and phone is very good but there are some things still that need to be done in face to face meetings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[simonali]

I like flying, but only coz it's free and usually in First!

 

[zimzum42]

I fly quite a lot, have always lived in far-flung places as well as the uk, and my job involves a fair bit of flying.

I still love airports, however much of a nightmare it is, I still love the whole experience, even though it stresses me out to the max.

As for the environmental thing, well, I only ever really use scheduled flights, so the things going to be flying anyway, so don't see how not going will really affect things much, most of the flights are fairly full (except when going to Lebanon!), so if i'm not on it, someone else will be.....

 

[Evilcat]

Thanks for the responses. I don't really buy 'the plane was going anyway' and similar arguments: if fewer people were flying then the frequency nad size of planes on routes would reduce. For example, last time I looked there were 10 flights a day between London and Chicago: if fewer people booked then we'd soon see a reduction.

I have made a conscious decision to try and reduce business flights (over which I have some control) in favour of video/internet conferencing although sometimes there is just no substitute for face to face contact. However, long haul leisure travel has ended up almost being a function of who I am; almost an addiction when I tot up the number of flights I could be making this year (22 individual sectors). I just enjoy it too much: the clink of champagne glasses, being pampered in the lounge (it is mainly first and business class - very relaxing), being waited on hand and foot on the plane. Plus destinations with very different scenery, culture, language, customs and climate: things you just cannot experience in the UK or western Europe.

In my middle-class-left-of-centre-whingy-wet-right-on kind of way I guess I'm just feeling guilty, but not guilty enough to stop. So, it's off to the carbon offset website I go. Not a substitute for not flying, but it does assuage the guilt.

EC

 

[Kirstie]

Yeah, tell me about it. When airport staff read my name in my passport they go all ashen and call their colleagues over.

We went to Granada last year and my wife had to open every one of our daughter's jars of baby food and eat a spoonful, to prove it wasn't an explosive substance. By the time we got to Spain, all the food was off and we had to chuck it. Our little'un was very hungry too.

A friend of mine is mixed race bangladeshi/english and his surname is Islam. He gets such crap when he travels anywhere! Recently I was sitting at a gate in heathrow the other week about to go to Canada, and was chatting to the woman next to me. She was an afghan-canadian and had travelled to afghanistan, pakistan and dubai before going back to Canada. She started talking to me because they had not issued her with a boarding pass - she'd just walked through and they'd not checked her...

 

[gbb]

I fly quite a lot, have always lived in far-flung places as well as the uk, and my job involves a fair bit of flying.

I still love airports, however much of a nightmare it is, I still love the whole experience, even though it stresses me out to the max.

As for the environmental thing, well, I only ever really use scheduled flights, so the things going to be flying anyway, so don't see how not going will really affect things much, most of the flights are fairly full (except when going to Lebanon!), so if i'm not on it, someone else will be.....

I love the whole shebang (sp) too...but i dont get stressed. Sit back and watch the world go by.

The irony is, i flown a couple of half empty scheduled flights (one to Cyprus only had about 20 people on it..which i thought was shocking really, surely they could have got us on another flight)

Chartered flights tend to be packed to the gummels (sp) with holidaymakers....cant think i ever saw an empty seat on the outward journey.

 

[zimzum42]

I'm not suggesting scheduled flights are always full, but they are always going, and it takes a major change to get them to alter their schedules.

Aren't they also tied into deals to protect the routes they fly, so they have to fly a certain number of flights on a route etc etc

 

[Evilcat]

I'm not suggesting scheduled flights are always full, but they are always going, and it takes a major change to get them to alter their schedules.

Applies to some airlines, but others have no problem cancelling flights as a result of low demand. For example, in the months post-9/11 Virgin often cancelled one of its 2 daily Los Angeles flights at short notice, consolidating all passengers onto the later plane.

Aren't they also tied into deals to protect the routes they fly, so they have to fly a certain number of flights on a route etc etc

True, particularly at Heathrow where airlines have to protect their slots. Unfortunately, and despite the environmental impact, this has resulted in airlines either flying empty planes or else moving flights from other airports just to keep their slots active. Which, in the overall scheme of things, is just plain stupid.

EC

 

[tdr1nka]

A friend of mine is mixed race bangladeshi/english and his surname is Islam. He gets such crap when he travels anywhere! Recently I was sitting at a gate in heathrow the other week about to go to Canada, and was chatting to the woman next to me. She was an afghan-canadian and had travelled to afghanistan, pakistan and dubai before going back to Canada. She started talking to me because they had not issued her with a boarding pass - she'd just walked through and they'd not checked her...

I've flown into New York on an Air India flight and was genuinely astounded by the treatment Indian nationals got from 'Homeland Security' at immigration control. Old people being pushed, handled roughly and shouted at while the young men were being taken aside by armed security.

So as not offend the sensibilities of us white folk we were sent to the far end of the hall so as not to be too close to the action.

 

[Yellow Fang]

I love the whole shebang (sp) too...but i dont get stressed. Sit back and watch the world go by.

The irony is, i flown a couple of half empty scheduled flights (one to Cyprus only had about 20 people on it..which i thought was shocking really, surely they could have got us on another flight)

Chartered flights tend to be packed to the gummels (sp) with holidaymakers....cant think i ever saw an empty seat on the outward journey.

My last return flight to America were less than half full there and back. The irony was that the airline was Virgin. So much for Branson's green credentials and his argument that an extra runway at Heathrow would reduce fuel consumption as airliners would not have to circle around a waiting stack.

Even when scheduled, buying a ticket creates demand. Airlines are not going to continue scheduling flights when they make a loss. The other annoying thing was the way the prices went up the nearer it got to the flight. They know when a visit becomes urgent they can charge what they like. At least it wasn't my money.

 

[Dayvo]

I've travelled and holidayed a lot since I was 18 (48 now) and have taken dozens, if not hundreds, of flights!
Couldn't have done what I've done otherwise; no local buses to Sydney etc!

I don't feel guilty about it. I don't smoke or use hairspray, and my farts are mostly environmentally friendly!

There are far guiltier parties, and no individual should have a bad conscience about flying.

 

[Amanda P]

I just enjoy it too much: the clink of champagne glasses, being pampered in the lounge (it is mainly first and business class - very relaxing), being waited on hand and foot on the plane.

Hmmm. Try flying cattle economy class a few times. You might find that helps you decide not to fly at all!

 

[gbb]

Hmmm. Try flying cattle economy class a few times. You might find that helps you decide not to fly at all!

I never realised how bad it was, till i flew long haul with Iberian.
Flew economy outbound....no biggie, 12 hours, moderately uncomfortable, but ok.
Came back business class....now that's better . Didnt realise how much better till i went to the back of the section, and peered through the curtains into economy...
It was like endless rows of sardines crammed in as far as the eye could see. It really shocked me.

 

[Evilcat]

Hmmm. Try flying cattle economy class a few times. You might find that helps you decide not to fly at all!

Happily that's not something I'll ever be doing, at least not long haul. With a bit of targeted credit card spending and the odd promotion, first/business class flights don't work out that expensive, in any case.

I used to travel regularly in the back of the bus until 1997 when (a) I spent 11 hours in the middle seat of a block of 5 on United back from LAX, and ( Virgin was kind enough to upgrade me to business class for a flight to Chicago. Since then I have dedicated many of my remaining brain cells to ensuring I always turn left...

EC