My apologies to both the mods and to Shed on a Pole. May I clarify?
1 White middle class men - merely an observation that the Rev Spooner seemed to employ and promote almost exclusively white middle age middle class men to his senior management team (I did not mean the whole workforce, which is clearly diverse, and I regret not making that distinction clear). This after several years of apparent discrimination against men in particular by the previous management culture who were more "PC" about gender and race. I do not seek to be sexist or racist and regret it if anyone reads my post as such. What I was thinking (but didn't say...) was that in a business that by definition touches all corners of the world, it is a shame that he limited his senior management team (and by extension his company's culture and point of view) to such a narrow slice of society. I have heard him on more than one occasion preaching about diversity, equality etc. and looked round the audience to see a sea of white male faces in grey suits. You'd be surprised to know my gender and race, which is not relevant to this thread, but it disappoints me to see such a narrowly-sourced pool of management. What would a visitor from for instance an Asian or Japanese airline think when he or she met the management team?
2 Bollin Valley - I saw the valley before, during and after construction. I am well aware that MA has planted 6 new trees for every 1 felled, installed bat boxes etc. and sprayed cash all around. However I would reply that they could have improved the environment in that area (more trees, bat boxes, fencing etc.) without dropping thousands of tonnes of concrete on it first. Now that would be altruistic...
3 Holding patterns - I know nothing about aircraft ops in the air so defer to your knowledge there. I am pleased to have learned something new today and will no doubt use it next time someone tries the green argument on me in the pub!
I was merely expressing my view. My sincere apologies if anyone took my comments in a way that was not intended.