Robin
I think that this type of issue goes quite deep and relates to "attitude"
There are national stereotypical attitudes that are so ingrained we may not even see them until we experience another attitude that works equally well or better hence the posts relating to the attitude to this type of thing in other countries.
If you had to pay a man to wind a crank handle and stay up all night in the freezing rain until the last aircraft landed then yes we might want to chip in and buy him a pint or two for his efforts however we are talking about pilot controlled lighting which uses minimal electrons and increases safety....
It's laughable that we have an attitude where every single penny has to be accounted for and paid only by those who benefit.....lets be honest what we really have is a fixed market with a number of monopoly players charging what they think they can get away with because nobody challenges them (or if they do they are unfarly disadvantaged).
I had a situation recently where the landing fees depended on who the pilot was X pounds for Mr Bloody popular and 2.5 times that amount for anyone else (no he doesn't own the airfield either). Beggars belief but I think that this kind of unequal and unnecessary pricing is unethical and illegal - CAA rules as they stand seem to favour existing monopoly operators who like the system as it stands and if you don't like it tough luck.
Rant over !
