Originally Posted by
PerPurumTonantes
It's possible to love aviation and at the same time realise that we cannot continue expanding.
This is the problem:
(source: NASA)
Aviation is fun, challenging, mind broadening, brings cultures together, etc. But most of it is non-essential. What do we need a third runway for? To free up 27L and R so more people can go to Thailand for 2 weeks?
It's pretty clear that we're facing a serious climate problem. We've known about this since the 70s and b***er all's been done really. Yes we've done a few things on power generation. But transport? All we've seen is more cars, more planes. So although I don't think shutting down Heathrow with drones is a good idea, you can see where they're coming from, because no other form of protest seems to be working.
Why is the talk always about limiting aviation? Why do we need to limit it when every new generation of planes is becoming cleaner? Why do people want to go backwards, place more restrictions on future generations and dictate what is essential? Rich countries have had the benefit of booming Aviation sectors for decades, now poorer countries are finally catching up and all of a sudden it's time to curtail aviation? Is there more to all of this that no one is admitting?
These ER lot seem very keen on us all doing as they say and living life by their rules. Quite a worrying path for people, especially younger people, to willingly want governments to go down. Shutting down LHR with drones will disrupt hundreds of thousands of Travelers who are flying for whatever reason. No one needs a reason to fly. That's the beauty of the industry. It can take you anywhere for any reason.
No one has the right to violently and deliberately disrupt people going about their daily lives peacefully. I suppose the thousands of LHR staff who's days will become chaotic as they are on the receiving end of torrents of abuse is vital to saving the planet too? How about the families kept apart by cancelled flights or the companies losing money as their workers and goods are stuck somewhere trying to get to London? Will ER repay them? Will ER man the ticket desks and take on the role of front line staff to stand and be shouted at and verbally assaulted while their mates fly some drones around?
The conversation should be about developing greener fuels and more efficient planes, not about dictating what's essential and how many people go to Thailand on holiday. To suggest we start to reverse the number of flights is admitting defeat and just giving up on trying to improve the industry, which has already become the easy target for people too blinkered to see that other industries need to be doing far more work and are getting away with doing b*gger all!