Europe destroying aviation
At a recent discussion in the European Parliament it was pointed out that there is a shortage of candidates for the professions of air traffic controllers and commercial pilots in many European countries. It was suggested that the negative 'environmentally-unfriendly' image of aviation often put forward in the media had something to do with this, while the high cost and perceived difficulty of the training involved were also deterrents. Another major reason for the lack of candidate pilots and controllers could be the difficulties encountered by young people in getting access to aviation. Years ago, kids often caught the flying bug by hanging around airfields, where nowadays security barriers prevent them gaining access.