Hi Momentary Lapse,
Thankyou for your comments. BUT ... once again, despite saying you agree with comments to the contrary, you proceed to repeat your allegation that MAplc is operating in a racist and sexist manner, "Message versus behaviour," you conclude. May I say that it is your right to hold this opinion if you so wish, but if you intend to keep repeating this allegation in public then I urge you to present EVIDENCE that MAplc has promoted an unsuitable individual ahead of a better qualified candidate on the grounds of gender or race. If you have no such evidence then you should withdraw your allegation.
I note also that you insist on using titles such as "Reverend Spooner" and "The Fat Controller." Do you really think this is called for? It is disrespectful and tells the readers more about you than those to whom you refer with contempt. Please note that I would not expect either
JS or GM to recognise me if they met me, so I do not defend them on the grounds of personal friendship. I simply believe that all deserve a level of respect in a public forum which you seem unwilling to demonstrate.
In your section on Runway 2 we find a new throwaway comment. "Shame the Fat Controller couldn't have been more imaginative during his period of presiding over waste and stagnation." Leaving aside the insulting tone of this remark, have you not noticed that MAN is the 45th busiest airport in the World and 11th busiest in Europe based on ACI's 2004 figures? Did you not see the 22,742,219 passengers who used the airport during 2005? How about the 150,649 tonnes of cargo and 234,824 flight movements? There are many capital city airports both in Europe and worldwide who would welcome "waste and stagnation" like this.
If you feel guilty about the results of the R2 project that is a personal matter and I respect your view. However, I do not feel guilty. I celebrate the massive environmental boost represented by the reduction in air holding (discussed in earlier posting) and the proliferation of wildlife on the South side of the airport. I support efforts to encourage airlines to use off-peak runway slots where viable, but ultimately they must accept that their business travellers aim to work 9-5 days and will not depart at 1400 and return at 0200 for a business trip. So peak times will always be there, and that MAN was saturated at peak times prior to the opening of R2 is well documented elsewhere if you care to check. With regards to the MAplc team being urged to discourage certain business at peak times ... well I'm not sure they would see that as something they are employed to do! The expansion of air services from the region has brought many benefits and certain costs too; you clearly believe that the latter outweigh the former, others believe the opposite to be true. That is a subjective matter and we must all recognise that opinion on it will vary.
Finally, I always welcome reasoned debate, but may I urge you if you respond again to refrain from use of insulting titles for specified individuals, and to avoid unsupported use of slurs such as "rape of the countryside", "presiding over waste and stagnation", and yet again an attack on the racial and gender composition of MAplc's senior executive team. If you have evidence that they have rejected a candidate on grounds of race or gender, state your evidence. Otherwise withdraw your slur which you have now posted twice.
Thankyou for your understanding. SHED.