The benefits of civil aviation

It is one of the most modern and fashionable ways to travel and move about. Instead of getting into the car and going where it is nice at the weekend, even low-paid employees treat themselves to a weekend visit to London for shopping or Mallorca for a quick swim in the Mediterranian. Holidays are much cheaper anyway if you go on an all-inclusive holiday to Turkey or the Dominican Republic. So what?

Airports proudly announce constant increases in passenger figures and turnover, airlines sell out bargains of 19€-flights to who-knows-where, and if you refuse or just cut down on flying, you seem to be a kill-joy.

Have you ever imagined to live near one of these busy airports? I don´t have to imagine, I do. It´s a nightmarish experience if you can tell the age of the pilot in the cockpit when the aircraft hovers over your head and your ears go deaf with the noise from the engines. It´s not funny to be awakened in the middle of the night by aircraft taking off or landing and feeling shattered for the rest of the day because you couldn´t go back to sleep. Not to mention the fumes these monsters emit with every overflight.

Politicians and airport officials stay relaxed. The chosen few have to suffer for the benefits of the majority. Any lawnmower, they tell us, or the street or railway nearby emit more noise than an aircraft over your head. Well... how long do you use your lawnmower? Are you allowed and willing to use it at night? Or at noontime? Every city street is protected by speed limits at least it night for reasons of noise abatement. No chance for near-airport residents.

If we all would be willing to slow down life a bit, we would need only a fraction of flights. It would bring us nearer to the ideal which Mahatma Ghandi described this way:

"There is more to life than constantly increasing its speed."

This certainly would mean less profits for airports and airlines all over the world. But who cares?