We can’t just turn off aviation as a solution to climate change. These changes must be done sustainably. A key thing in the definition of sustainability is that it must include your personal well-being as well. In 2019 at the World ATM Conference in Madrid I attended a panel discussion about world aviation and issues in different continents. It’s good to hear another person’s perspective. For Europe the panellists noted the big problems with high traffic levels and delays due to lack of capacity. The South American representative was keen that there was investment in the infrastructure which is 30 years old in places. I particularly remember, though, the representative from Africa who commented that they would like to have a small piece of that European delay problem and the associated traffic growth. Aviation brings economic and cultural activity which in turn brings many benefits. It’s not just for those flying on holiday or making connections and experiencing other cultures. Aviation supports a vast supply chain, jobs and brings economic growth to a nation and as a result supports the UN goals. It would be almost selfish of the developed nations to campaign to turn aviation off. Now we’ve had the benefit of economic growth we can’t just turn off everything we used to gain the wealth and health to which we are accustomed and say in effect the rest of you can’t have that. That really would be a flying shame.

We are all connected and must remain so, or our way of life will fail. We absolutely must fix climate change, world poverty, hunger, world health. We must share that way of life, share the benefits worldwide, even if it means we give up some part of that on the journey. That is why I believe we can’t turn off aviation, or anything beneficial for that matter, as that turns off the benefits as well. It’s a balance. The ability to connect with people both in the virtual and real world can have good and bad consequences. We must come back stronger and better for the environment in all sectors for the benefit of all. We’ve seen the terrible consequences of what happens when the connections between us are paused. The fix won’t happen overnight, but it must happen. Net carbon neutral by 2050 is the target. We can do this together and we all have our part to play. What you do matters for climate and covid-19. Make that connection a good one.