‘Steady as she goes’ is the mantra of global aerospace, particularly those whose business is flying civilians and commercial freight around the world. They have to plan long-term and so look out anxiously for sudden changes in public attitudes to aviation. And it looks like one such shift may be happening right now.
If there is one human activity least likely to adapt to climate breakdown and the need for radical decarbonisation you might think it is powered flight. But at last month’s International Paris Air Show the industry seemed to be waking up to that need. Writing in its leading journal, Aviation Week and Space Technology, Michael Bruno puts the mood like this:
While Greta Thunberg probably did not attend the 2019 Paris Air Show, she seemed to be everywhere. The 16-year-old Swedish student – who spurred Europeans and others to forgo flying on their summer vacations, due to carbon emissions from airliners – was not cited in formal press releases or announcements, but the ‘flight-shaming’ effect she has helped foster was not far from some attendees’ minds.
Bruno goes on to say the show may be remembered “as industry’s inflection point to a hybrid-electric and generally more environmentally friendly future”. He quotes one analyst, Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group, who comments: “This Swedish girl Greta, she seems to be spreading a gospel that’s got some traction, and you never know what becomes [of] a demographic that way.”
