Coronavirus turbulence set to rock our flying addiction - Jim Duffy

Seeing great lines of aeroplanes parked at major airports throughout the UK and beyond is a real eye opener.

It's a dismal time for airline staff, says Duffy, such as his daughter who works at British Airways

These multi-million pound hunks of technology, with outstanding finance, at rest with nowhere to go, makes me think hard about their existence and their future. As the coronavirus takes hold it will not just be flying that is affected. ­Perhaps, as we bed down and grind out isolation, quarantine and imprisonment, now is the time to think hard about our futures and those of our offspring.

There is no doubt that this global crisis will have a negative effect on our economies. It seems we are not buying clothes at Primark as it flashes up red on investors’ screens. Our consumption of fancy coffees is dropping with fewer visits to cafes. Booze will also be under pressure as pubs and clubs close. I wonder how many of you made sure there was as much wine and beer as toilet roll in that so-important shopping trolley.

Holidays and world travel will come into focus as airlines and travel companies ask for tens of billions in bailouts. As I sit isolated, the big question that keeps coming into my mind is this: is this a wake up call for cheap travel and a feather in the cap for the climate protest movements such as Extinction Rebellion?

Is this a wake up call for cheap travel and a feather in the cap for protesters, asks Duffy.

Restoring the planet’s lungs

We jump on planes without thinking about it these days. Businesspeople fly from Edinburgh to London City and return the same day. The budget airlines – and I use this term loosely as the cost of flights on these no-frills carriers is increasing steadily – are now massive players.

For some reason I can never find or book that £12 flight offer that springs into my inbox each week. Despite this, the likes of EasyJet, Ryanair and Norwegian have full loads anytime I travel with them, which is on a needs-only basis. Long-haul carriers like British Airways, Delta and Lufthansa roam the skies from New York to Kuala Lumpur. BA has its own terminal at ­London Heathrow and JFK. As we watch them ask for government bailouts, is now the time to put them under more scrutiny?

Do we really need to fly so much? ­Carbon emissions are tanking just like the stock markets as these huge gas-guzzling machines sit on the tarmac. That must be good for the planet, but not the economy. Each day as millions of us do not travel the planet is getting a breather from aeroplane exhaust emissions. A bit like a smoker who has been on the fags for 20 years and quits, the earth’s lungs may come to life again.

Imagine if this was sustained for a decade, the impact it would have on the earth’s vast, but fragile ecosystems. It would be awesome for the likes of Greta Thunberg, who would actually have to retire early – in her teens. All very speculative and ­probably unworkable, eh?

Economic fall-out

As job losses, voluntary retirement and unpaid leave kick into the airline sector, it is a dismal time for those cabin crew, pilots and baggage handlers who have nowhere to go, my daughter included, who loves her job at BA. Unfortunately, no one is going to bail these hard-working people out.

They will rely on parents and credit cards and savings. Airline bosses are looking for government money to keep their businesses alive and their shares worth something. Albeit, saving an industry that they believe needs saved, while others would be happy to see it streamlined.

I am not anti-flying, anti-airlines or anti-sound economic policy. What I am proffering is a new perspective in these vastly changing times. Just because flying has become available and “affordable” from local airports does not mean we need to consume. Perhaps there is a better way.

Video conferencing and online tools are getting better for business. Do we really need to go to Phuket or Bali or Benidorm? Maybe the staycation and revitalisation of UK coastal resorts could be a winner.

Whatever side of the debate you sit on, one thing is for sure, you ain’t going anywhere this month. It may be time to reflect on a new perspective on world travel and what it could look like post-virus.

- Jim Duffy MBE, Create Special

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