I'm all for protecting the environment, the lengths some people will go to to make a profit are disturbing (for example various activities in the Amazon Rainforest), but arguably environmental pressure groups would be better off devoting their considerable resources to the research of alternative fuels, or picketing the head offices of Translink Northern Ireland to get the fares down, or something - anything but climbing on to the fuselages of planes at Heathrow Airport (which they seem to have done with relative impunity) or, and this is what really baffles me, protesting against the building of a third runway at Heathrow. I'm sure you have heard of Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world, which therefore has pretty long queues of planes waiting to take off. Hasn't it struck anyone that building a third runway would mean that there are less planes sitting on a taxiway with their engines on doing nothing but burning expensive fuel and emitting all kinds of nasties into the atmosphere instead of doing the useful and necessary work of transporting people from A to B in safety and comfort? But no, this sensible measure might destroy a field or two so Heathrow security must spend hours prising people off the tailfins of A320s...
This post was actually supposed to be about my ongoing search for a job to do with aviation to fund both my flying and life in general but that will have to wait because I seem to have gone on for a bit. Sorry. I'd like to hear your thoughts - from both sides of the fence - on the issues above.
2 comments:
You make a really good point about the third runway at Heathrow. It would serve to reduce the amount of emissions in the long run.
I think we're going to get to a point someday where airplanes are towed out to the end of the runway to save fuel. It's getting just too expensive for airlines to taxi for hours to get off the ground.
Kent,
Virgin Atlantic tried that at Heathrow I think but Boeing advised against it because they didn't think the Boeing 747's nose wheel could cope with the strain of having to be pulled so much. Perhaps in the future aircraft will be designed with this in mind?
Dave
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