tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/airports-14046/articlesAirports – The Conversation2023-12-27T20:26:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2170892023-12-27T20:26:40Z2023-12-27T20:26:40Z‘You don’t know why they’re filming or what they’ll do with it’: flight attendants on being unwilling stars of viral videos<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558501/original/file-20231108-25-e7lp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C47%2C7951%2C5249&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cabin-crew-air-hostess-working-airplane-2068194518">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As any frequent social media user knows, airline passengers often record and post in-flight incidents – from frightening turbulence to unruly members of the public.</p>
<p>Often, these viral videos feature flight attendants just trying to do their duties, while being filmed without their consent. </p>
<p>These videos usually portray flight attendants either as heroes effortlessly managing difficult passengers or “villains” accused of being rude and unprofessional. Either way, the trend is emerging as an industrial issue, with unions arcing up about it and airlines bringing in new rules aimed at curbing the practice.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/qantas-wont-like-it-but-australian-travellers-could-be-about-to-get-a-better-deal-on-flights-214718">Qantas won't like it, but Australian travellers could be about to get a better deal on flights</a>
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<h2>Unkind comments about appearance and age</h2>
<p>Going to work knowing that at any moment you may become the unwilling star of a viral video can exact a considerable toll on the wellbeing of flight attendants. </p>
<p>I (Liz Simmons) speak daily with flight attendants in Australia and abroad as part of my PhD research. From these discussions, I’ve heard from attendants who worry often about discovering videos of themselves featuring unkind comments about their appearance, age or employer.</p>
<p>One flight attendant, Kate*, described the disconcerting feeling of someone aiming a smartphone camera at her while she was simply trying to do her job, saying:</p>
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<p>You don’t know why they’re filming or what they’ll do with it. </p>
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<p>Marie spoke of being featured in a TikTok video during a safety demonstration, with viewers making fun of her appearance. </p>
<p>Charlotte, after refusing to serve more alcohol to an intoxicated passenger, had a camera thrust in her face, accompanied by threats to her job. </p>
<p>Mark told of how uncomfortable he felt having to ask a passenger to stop taking photos of the crew during service.</p>
<p>These personal accounts illustrate the <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/flight-attendant-reveals-creepy-passenger-behaviour/news-story/3b2b1ad25f758e24ef37b74794684ea6">distress</a> flight attendants can experience when being filmed or photographed without their knowledge.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558502/original/file-20231108-19-x0238w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A flight attendant directs passengers to the nearest available exits." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558502/original/file-20231108-19-x0238w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558502/original/file-20231108-19-x0238w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558502/original/file-20231108-19-x0238w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558502/original/file-20231108-19-x0238w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558502/original/file-20231108-19-x0238w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558502/original/file-20231108-19-x0238w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558502/original/file-20231108-19-x0238w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Imagine going to work knowing that, at any moment, you may become the unwilling star of a viral video.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/plane-worker-conduct-safety-instruction-people-1992757586">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>A broader industrial issue</h2>
<p>This issue is drawing the attention of policymakers, airlines and the unions that represent flight attendants.</p>
<p>Japan recently introduced <a href="https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/crime-courts/20230408-102309/">laws</a> aimed at curbing sneak photography in a range of settings, which may be used to prevent passengers voyeuristically filming flight attendants. <a href="https://mondortiz.com/japan-flight-attendants-call-for-action-versus-stolen-photo-taking/">Research</a> by Japan’s aviation workers union found that about 70% of the 1,573 flight attendants surveyed believed they’d had their pictures taken surreptitiously while they were working.</p>
<p>Passengers have been arrested in <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/crime-in-israel/article-748799">Turkey</a> and <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3554181/IndiGo-passenger-arrested-recording-video-flight-attendants.html">India</a> after unauthorised filming. </p>
<p>And flight attendant unions in <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/09/national/crime-legal/flight-attendant-photo/">Japan</a>, <a href="https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/204104/Union-says-flight-attendants-can-ask-passengers-to-delete-photos-and-videos-taken-without-consent">Hong Kong</a> and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300750512/why-you-shouldnt-film-your-cabin-crew">Australia</a> have voiced concerns about the issue.</p>
<p>Of course, videos can occasionally play a crucial role in understanding what transpired during an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/passenger-assault-attendant-detained-fbi-american-airlines-mexico-cabo-rcna48884">in-flight incident</a>, and flight attendants themselves can also be found on social media sharing their stories, consenting to the video. But many videos still feature airline staff simply going about their job (while being filmed, without their consent).</p>
<h2>Unclear rules</h2>
<p>News <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/reviews-and-advice/why-you-shouldnt-film-your-cabin-crew-20221122-h2813d.html">reports</a> suggest staff aboard Dutch carrier KLM “now commonly make an announcement during the safety briefing asking passengers not to take photos of any crew members.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.klm.com.au/information/legal/conditions-carriage">rules</a> on the KLM website are less clear, saying only that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Recording videos and/or taking photographs other than personal videos and photographs is prohibited on board the aircraft.</p>
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<p>Virgin Australia’s rules state anyone travelling on their planes must</p>
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<p>use cameras or photographic devices (including mobile phones) for personal use only. You must comply with the directions of flight crew when using cameras or photographic devices while on board.</p>
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<p>In November 2023, Qantas introduced new <a href="https://www.qantas.com/au/en/book-a-trip/flights/conditions-of-carriage.html#conduct-during-flight">rules</a> requiring passengers to</p>
<blockquote>
<p>seek consent before filming or photographing Qantas Group staff, contractors or other customers. </p>
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<p>This is a start. For most airlines, however, there is a notable absence of clear guidelines against recording and publishing footage of flight attendants in their workplace. The existing rules are often buried in the fine print of terms and conditions, which few passengers take the time to read. This underscores the necessity for airlines to reconsider how these restrictions are communicated to passengers. </p>
<p>Looking ahead, it may be timely for more airlines to establish clearer rules on filming cabin crew while they work. There should be an acknowledgement that unsolicited filming is frequently unfair, invasive and distressing. Developing a framework to enforce these provisions and enhancing communication about these rules would help inform passengers about how to respect the privacy and comfort of flight attendants in their workplace. </p>
<p><em>* All names have been changed to protect identities.</em></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-air-turbulence-196872">What is air turbulence?</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Simmons is a member of the Griffith Institute For Tourism (GIFT), and a member of the Australian Aviation Psychology Association (AAvPA). She was an Australian-based cabin crew from 2004-2021, and during that time was a financial member of the Flight Attendant's Association of Australia (FAAA).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rawan Nimri is a current member of the Griffith Institute For Tourism (GIFT).
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gui Lohmann does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Unions are arcing up about cabin crew being filmed without consent during flights. Some airlines have brought in new rules aimed at curbing the practice.Liz Simmons, PhD Candidate, Griffith UniversityGui Lohmann, Professor in Air Transport and Tourism Management, Griffith UniversityRawan Nimri, Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2169832023-11-03T03:37:28Z2023-11-03T03:37:28ZThe fury on show at the Qantas AGM couldn’t have come at a worse time for the airline<p>Fielding tough questions from a furious audience is no one’s idea of fun. But as Richard Goyder and Vanessa Hudson – Qantas chairman and chief executive, respectively – dealt with angry question after angry question at the airline’s annual general meeting today, the pair knew their main audience was not those in the room. It was, in fact, the decision-makers in Canberra. </p>
<p>The AGM comes at a critical time for the national carrier. The federal government is considering a suite of aviation policy reforms, many of which Qantas would rather stay unreformed.</p>
<p>Qantas can ill afford further damage to its public image now.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/even-if-qantas-is-fined-hundreds-of-millions-it-is-likely-to-continue-to-take-us-for-granted-213754">Even if Qantas is fined hundreds of millions it is likely to continue to take us for granted</a>
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<h2>Shareholder and community anger</h2>
<p>Qantas had a good year financially, as demonstrated by its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/24/qantas-delivers-record-247bn-profit">A$2.47 billion</a> full-year profits. But consumers are less happy.</p>
<p>These profits have been delivered in part by <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/qantas-passengers-to-pay-more-for-flights-as-fuel-costs-bite-20231020-p5edvo.html">rapidly rising air fares</a>.</p>
<p>The Qantas board has also had to deal with anger on executive remuneration, especially around former chief executive Alan Joyce’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-20/qantas-alan-joyce-21-4-million-final-payout/102880572">multimillion-dollar payout</a>. </p>
<p>This rage over executive pay was on full display at today’s AGM, when <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/qantas-agm-2023-live-updates-20231102-p5eh5z.html">83%</a> of shareholders voted against Qantas’ remuneration report for the 2023 financial year. <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/qantas-agm-2023-live-updates-20231102-p5eh5z.html">Reported</a> as “one of the biggest strikes ever recorded in corporate history”, it is a clear rejection Joyce’s payout.</p>
<p>Qantas has also had to manage allegations it <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/qantas-apologizes-over-tickets-phantom-075506638.html#:%7E:text=STORY%3A%20Qantas%20issued%20an%20apology,a%20hit%20over%20recent%20times.">sold tickets for flights it knew had been cancelled</a>, on top of a suite of PR disasters around <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fbusiness%2Faviation%2Fqantas-reveals-plan-to-tackle-flight-delays-and-lost-bags%2Fnews-story%2Fbd03a7806ef237daa78b541708b92349&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=HIGH-Segment-1-SCORE&V21spcbehaviour=append">flight delays and lost luggage issues</a>. </p>
<h2>The aviation white paper and Qantas’s optics problem</h2>
<p>The federal government released a new green paper on aviation policy in September and is consulting stakeholders, ahead of publishing a <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/aviation/aviation-white-paper">new white paper</a> on aviation policy next year.</p>
<p>There are several contentious areas of policy Qantas would prefer to remain unchanged. </p>
<p>The white paper panel will no doubt also take into account public sentiment. Optics matter in politics, and so Federal Transport Minister Catherine King and her department would have been taking the pulse of today’s AGM. </p>
<p>The anger on show from shareholders – with Goyder facing jeers, boos and cries of “<a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/qantas-annual-general-meeting-shareholders-chairman-richard-goyder/945180fd-8ac8-4a4f-982f-edd01b841fcd">shame on you!</a>” – can’t have helped Qantas’s optics.</p>
<p>Any political advisor watching would likely caution the government that now is not a good time to be seen cosying up to the airline.</p>
<p>The 2024 aviation white paper (itself a sequel to Anthony Albanese’s <a href="https://australianaviation.com.au/2009/12/albanese-releases-aviation-white-paper/">2009 aviation white paper</a> while he was transport minister) aims to set a new aviation policy framework out to 2050. </p>
<p>Unlike its predecessor, it will take into account consumer and worker rights – so the angry scenes at today’s meeting will not help Qantas in its efforts to stave off the kind of regulation being discussed in the aviation white paper. </p>
<h2>Mandatory compensation</h2>
<p>One policy under consideration is the idea of mandatory compensation for flight cancellations and delays. </p>
<p>For almost 20 years, air travellers flying from European Union airports have been able to access a guaranteed compensation scheme that is tiered according to length of delay and inconvenience.</p>
<p>Airlines in Europe fought the introduction of the mechanism in 2004. It’s unlikely Qantas would welcome such policies in Australia either.</p>
<h2>Bilateral air service agreements</h2>
<p>Another issue on the table is the negotiation of bilateral air service agreements. These agreements between nation states govern the number of flights between countries, but are seen as archaic in many other OECD countries.</p>
<p>In their place, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/under-open-skies-the-market-not-the-minister-would-decide-how-often-airlines-could-fly-into-australia-213214">open skies</a>” agreements allow unfettered access to foreign carriers and often deliver lower fares to consumers.</p>
<p>Qantas and Virgin Australia both rely on a bilateral air service agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the bulk of their international connections. This agreement still has ample expansion room, but the agreement with neighbouring Qatar is already at capacity. </p>
<p>The seemingly opaque way in which the application by Qatar to enlarge this quota was denied by the federal government angered many in the industry. It led to a senate committee inquiry.</p>
<p>Indeed, a freedom-of-information request was required to discover the decision was, in part, linked to the treatment of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/australia-says-qatar-strip-searches-women-2020-factor-blocking-extra-flights-2023-09-07/#:%7E:text=SYDNEY%2C%20Sept%207%20(Reuters),pressure%20from%20rival%20Qantas%20Airways.">women strip-searched at Doha airport in 2020</a>. </p>
<p>It’s likely the government will reform the way these bilateral service agreements are negotiated (at least to add greater transparency). </p>
<p>Goyder and Hudson wanted the focus at today’s AGM to be partly on their plan to boost non-stop international flights, all of which hinge on bilateral service agreements with European countries. So Qantas may be nervous about any proposed changes to the negotiation process that make it easier for their would-be rivals to also expand services. </p>
<h2>Greater competition monitoring</h2>
<p>The white paper panel is also considering greater monitoring of competition in air transport. </p>
<p>Airports operate as monopolies in their cities and are regulated as such. Airlines, on the other hand, operate in a competitive landscape. </p>
<p>But the playing field is not level for all airlines and potential entrants, not least because capacity restraints such as takeoff and landing slots can be engineered to favour incumbents. As such, Qantas would no doubt prefer no reform in these areas. </p>
<p>So the terrible optics of today’s Qantas AGM come at a moment when it is very keen to mould the legislative landscape of aviation in its favour. In other words, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.</p>
<p>As Goyder and Hudson fronted shareholders today, their promise to work harder to address customer concerns was aimed as much at Canberra as it was to the Melbourne audience. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/qantas-wont-like-it-but-australian-travellers-could-be-about-to-get-a-better-deal-on-flights-214718">Qantas won't like it, but Australian travellers could be about to get a better deal on flights</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justin Wastnage was previously director of two industry groups, Aviation/Aerospace Australia and the Tourism & Transport Forum, which are both funded in part by Australian and international airlines and airports.</span></em></p>The terrible optics of today’s Qantas AGM come at a moment when it is very keen to mould the legislative landscape of aviation in its favour.Justin Wastnage, Adjunct Industry Fellow, Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2107782023-08-09T12:55:43Z2023-08-09T12:55:43ZAir travel is in a rut – is there any hope of recapturing the romance of flying?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540440/original/file-20230801-15-96mm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4019%2C2685&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The high-risk adventure of air travel has been subdued, yet today's long flights can paradoxically feel torturous.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Schaberg</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amelia Earhart broke a transcontinental speed record 90 years ago, in July 1933, by flying <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/web11183-2009640jpg">her signature red Lockheed Vega</a> from Los Angeles to New Jersey in just 17 hours, seven and a half minutes. Earlier that year, Earhart had flown as an observer on a Northwest Airways winter flight across the U.S., testing the possibilities of a “Northern Transcontinental” route. </p>
<p>Because those early airplanes couldn’t reach high altitudes, they weaved through dangerous peaks and the erratic weather patterns that mountain ranges helped create. One co-pilot <a href="https://www.deltamuseum.org/about-us/blog/from-the-hangars/2019/07/24/delta-stories-amelia-earhart">remembers the journey</a> as “seat-of-the-pants flying across the Dakota and Montana plains and through, over and around the Western mountain ranges.” </p>
<p>How does air travel today compare? </p>
<p>I’ve studied <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/engine-failure/552959/">airplane technology</a>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/a-forgettable-passage-to-flight/279346/">airport design</a> and <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/grounded">cultural attitudes</a> toward air travel, and I’ve noticed how aspects of flying seem to have calcified over time. </p>
<p>Long-distance flight <a href="https://theconversation.com/longing-for-the-golden-age-of-air-travel-be-careful-what-you-wish-for-34177">advanced rapidly between the 1930s and the early 1960s</a>, shaving off the number of hours in the sky by half. But over the past 60 years, the duration of such flights has remained roughly the same. Meanwhile, the ecosystem of air travel has grown more elaborate, often leaving passengers squirming in their seats on the tarmac before or after flight. </p>
<p>Coast-to-coast air travel is in a rut – but there are still efforts to improve this mode of transit.</p>
<h2>Just another ordinary miracle</h2>
<p>Transcontinental air journeys are clearly different 90 years after Earhart’s record-breaking exploratory flights: Travelers now take such trips for granted, and often find them to be pure drudgery. </p>
<p>In 2018, <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/united-757-200-first-class-ewr-sea/">travel blogger Ravi Ghelani reviewed in minute detail</a> a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Seattle – roughly the same northern route that Earhart explored in 1933. </p>
<p>But for Ghelani, seated in first class, it wasn’t the terrain or frigid temperatures that were the most cumbersome part of his adventure. It was a cheap complimentary blanket, which “barely qualified as one – it was very thin, very scratchy.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white photo of woman smiling and waving in front of an airplane." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Amelia Earhart grins in Newark, N.J., after completing her first nonstop flight across the U.S. in 1932.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/newark-new-jersey-a-wide-grin-covers-the-face-of-amelia-news-photo/104404070?adppopup=true">Keystone-France/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The dreaded blanket reappears in Ghelani’s summary of his trip: “My main qualm with this flight was the lack of a decent blanket – the tiny, scratchy blanket that was provided wasn’t cutting it for the six-hour flight.” </p>
<p>I can imagine Earhart rolling in <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/legend-amelia-earharts-disappearance">her watery grave</a>: “You zip across the continent in six hours and you complain about a scratchy blanket?”</p>
<p>Yet Ghelani’s account of a mundane cross-country flight reveals a truth: Commercial air travel just isn’t the adventure it was back in Earhart’s time.</p>
<p>As one captain of a major U.S. airline who regularly flies long routes told me, “Today jetliners fly across the country from Los Angeles to New York, or Boston to Seattle, full of passengers oblivious to the commonplace practice it has become.” </p>
<p>This pilot compared coast-to-coast flights to “iPhones, microwaves or automobiles” – just one more ordinary miracle of modern life. </p>
<h2>Little indignities multiply</h2>
<p>The high-risk adventure of air travel has been subdued, yet long flights today can paradoxically feel torturous. </p>
<p>As philosopher Michael Marder puts it in his 2022 book “<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262543712/philosophy-for-passengers/">Philosophy for Passengers</a>”: “When crew members wish passengers a ‘pleasant journey,’ I hear a dash of cruel irony in their words. How pleasant can the passenger experience be when you are crammed in your seat, with little fresh air, too hot or miserably cold, and sleep deprived?” </p>
<p>I asked my colleague and <a href="http://airplanereading.org/story/55/frequent-flight">frequent flier</a> Ian Bogost about his experience of coast-to-coast trips, and his reply was illuminating: “The same trip seems to get longer every year, and less comfortable. There are reasons – consolidation, reduced routes, pilot and air-traffic labor shortages, decaying technical infrastructure – but it still feels like moving backwards.” In spite of widespread attempts to update aircraft and modernize terminals, the vast system of air travel can seem cumbersome and outdated. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Glum-looking people in an airport terminal stand in a line that snakes out of the frame." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Passengers wait in line amid a series of cancellations at Newark (N.J.) International Airport in June 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-queue-for-their-flight-reschedule-inside-of-the-news-photo/1259132586?adppopup=true">Kena Betancur/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recently at The Atlantic, reporter <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/07/clear-airport-security-lines-tsa-infrastructure/674809/">Amanda Mull wrote about</a> the biometric screening company Clear, describing this firm’s high-tech service to skip the ubiquitous toil of identity checks before flight, at the cost of surrendering some privacy and personal information. Mull concludes the reason more travelers will likely enroll in this service is that “traversing American airport security is simply that grim.” </p>
<p>For Mull, the adventure of contemporary air travel isn’t the destination, or even the journey itself – it’s what you must do to get through the airport. </p>
<p>Still, it’s worth noting that the majority of the human population has never boarded an airplane; flying cross-country remains <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/how-much-worlds-population-has-flown-airplane-180957719/">a relatively exclusive experience</a>. For most people, the closest they’ll get to a coast-to-coast flight is seeing a small white scratch across the sky, as another airliner makes its arc at 35,000 feet. </p>
<h2>2 futures of cross-country flight</h2>
<p>Coast-to-coast travel is no longer about breakneck speed or defying elemental odds, and Earhart’s quests to push the limits of aviation couldn’t be further from the bland routines of contemporary air travel. Nor does it involve people dressing to the hilt to step aboard a jetliner for the first time, with passengers stowing their fancy hats in spacious overhead bins. </p>
<p>Where are the new frontiers for transcontinental flight today? </p>
<p>One area of innovation is in a greener form of flight. Solar Impulse, a completely solar-powered plane, took two months to fly coast-to-coast in 2013. It averages a plodding 45 mph at cruising altitude. As <a href="https://apnews.com/ded34ccc19f24aeea67ba3da130a2be0">The Associated Press reported</a>: “Solar Impulse’s creators view themselves as green pioneers – promoting lighter materials, solar-powered batteries, and conservation as sexy and adventurous. Theirs is the high-flying equivalent of the Tesla electric sports car.” Solar Impulse was more recently <a href="https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/aircraft-propulsion/solar-powered-skydweller-completes-first-autonomous-flights?check_logged_in=1">reconfigured as a remotely piloted aircraft</a>, with new experiments in long-distance solar flight underway. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Futuristic looking plane with long wingspan flies over bay and city." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Solar Impulse 2 flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/solar-impulse-2-a-solar-powered-plane-piloted-by-swiss-news-photo/523604684?adppopup=true">Jean Revillard/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The comparison of Solar Impulse to a Tesla is handy because a different extreme can be found in Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. As part of the relentless development of its biggest vehicle, “Starship,” SpaceX has advertised the possibility of “<a href="https://www.spacex.com/human-spaceflight/earth/">point-to-point</a>” travel on Earth: for example, flying on a commercial rocket from Los Angeles to New York in 25 minutes. Never mind the physical tolls of a normal <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-would-anyone-want-to-sit-on-a-plane-for-over-18-hours-an-economist-takes-the-worlds-longest-flight-122433">19-hour flight</a>; it’s hard to imagine what such a brief yet fast trip would feel like, not to mention what sort of class divisions and bleak industrial launch sites such jaunts would rely on.</p>
<p>Get there as fast as possible, using as much fuel as necessary; or glide lazily along, powered by the sun, saving the planet. These are two starkly different visions of coast-to-coast flight, one a dystopian nightmare and the other a utopian dream. </p>
<p>In the middle, there’s what most flying mortals do: wait in lines, board unceremoniously and be relieved if you get to your destination without too much discomfort or delay.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210778/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Schaberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Over the past 60 years, the duration of flights has remained roughly the same, while passengers have been subjected to more indignities, longer waits and more cancellations.Christopher Schaberg, Director of Public Scholarship, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. LouisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2110992023-08-07T20:02:19Z2023-08-07T20:02:19ZHow air travellers can cut their door-to-door emissions right now – by as much as 13% on the Sydney-Melbourne route<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541373/original/file-20230807-21-46i2be.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3994%2C2658&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MDRX/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Our climate is changing, and airlines are under pressure to reduce emissions from air travel. For many of us, especially in Australia, flying is an essential form of transport, so how can we reduce its environmental impact? Getting to and from the airport is an overlooked aspect of air travel that offers an immediate way to cut total carbon emissions from the trip by a surprisingly large amount.</p>
<p>Our newly published <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920923002468">research</a> shows for an average economy passenger flying from Sydney to Melbourne, the carbon emissions from using a fossil-fuelled car to get to and from the airports make up a staggering 13.5% of the total door-to-door emissions. At a global scale, this number reaches 12.1% for long-haul flights and up to 22.8% for short-haul air journeys.</p>
<p>For comparison, in the International Air Transport Association’s <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/programs/environment/roadmaps/">2050 net-zero emission roadmap</a>, 13% of global airline decarbonisation will come from electric and hydrogen propulsion. A further 65% is to come from mass adoption of sustainable aviation fuel. This is fuel produced from non-petroleum-based renewable sources such as some municipal solid waste, woody biomass, fats, greases and oils.</p>
<p>Each of these big lifters requires a mammoth level of investment and technological breakthroughs, and comes with limitations and risks. Some solutions might make air travel prohibitively expensive. Airlines are moving mountains to decarbonise, but there are increasing concerns their net-zero plans might not stack up.</p>
<p>In contrast, a 13.5% emission reduction on a Sydney-Melbourne door-to-door journey today may sound like a dream. Yet our research shows it’s easily achievable if travellers can be persuaded to change how they get to and from the airport.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541375/original/file-20230807-25-gylca6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541375/original/file-20230807-25-gylca6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541375/original/file-20230807-25-gylca6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541375/original/file-20230807-25-gylca6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541375/original/file-20230807-25-gylca6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541375/original/file-20230807-25-gylca6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541375/original/file-20230807-25-gylca6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Travel to and from the airport by a fossil-fuelled car accounts for a surprisingly large proportion of emissions from the whole journey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-buzz-about-sustainable-fuels-but-they-cannot-solve-aviations-colossal-climate-woes-205484">There’s a buzz about ‘sustainable’ fuels – but they cannot solve aviation's colossal climate woes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So how can travellers be convinced to switch?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/agricultural-and-resource-economics-review/article/future-of-carbon-labeling-factors-to-consider/FDBC62244F2ACA29A7602886085B4A91">Research</a> has shown carbon “labelling” helps shift consumer behaviour towards greener choices. It’s a bit like how the nutrition label on the back of our cereal box helps us choose healthier options. </p>
<p>For instance, when searching for a flight on online travel platform Skyscanner, all flight options are displayed with carbon emissions, so consumers can make a more informed choice.</p>
<p>Two <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5n53672m">recent</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/03611981211046924">studies</a> at the University of California, Davis, suggest showing consumers the emission outcomes of different gate-to-gate flight choices, such as aircraft types and transit stops, can prompt them to choose greener flights, reducing emissions by up to 3.8%. </p>
<p>But air journeys don’t start or end at airports. They start at home and end at destinations, or vice versa. Our air-travel carbon emissions are divided into ground and air segments and counted as airport and airline emissions respectively. While airlines focus on gate-to-gate decarbonisation through future technologies, the door-to-door emissions produced by travel to and from airports can be reduced immediately.</p>
<p>Let’s look at an example of a Sydney-to-Melbourne trip. Say you travel from North Sydney to Sydney Airport by car, then fly to Melbourne Airport and catch a taxi to the city centre. That trip emits 82 kilograms of CO₂ door-to-door. But if you use a train, bus or electric vehicle (charged from a renewable source) to travel to and from the airport, the emissions from your trip drop to 71kg: a 13.5% fall door-to-door. </p>
<p>Although travel platforms are increasingly communicating gate-to-gate emissions to consumers, we’re not aware of any that are including door-to-door emissions. Helping climate-conscious consumers understand the door-to-door carbon impact of airport ground connections could drive them to choose greener options such as public transport and electric vehicles.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541364/original/file-20230807-15-mp3dlr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Google Flights chart of air travel options showing emissions and cost" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541364/original/file-20230807-15-mp3dlr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541364/original/file-20230807-15-mp3dlr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541364/original/file-20230807-15-mp3dlr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541364/original/file-20230807-15-mp3dlr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541364/original/file-20230807-15-mp3dlr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541364/original/file-20230807-15-mp3dlr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541364/original/file-20230807-15-mp3dlr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Travel aggregator search platforms are now labelling carbon emissions when offering flight options.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Flights</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bucking-the-trend-is-there-a-future-for-ultra-long-haul-flights-in-a-net-zero-carbon-world-183212">Bucking the trend: Is there a future for ultra long-haul flights in a net zero carbon world?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Give airlines an incentive to inform passengers</h2>
<p>Governments and airports have long collaborated in driving consumers towards greener ground transit options. For instance, Transport for NSW has set a 50% emission-reduction <a href="https://www.future.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/Future_Transport_Strategy_2.pdf">target</a> for 2030. </p>
<p>However, consumer adoption of these options has remained low. <a href="https://www.ttf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/TTF_Accessing_Sydney_Airport.pdf">Most airport trips</a> in Australia today are still made by conventional car.</p>
<p>As consumers, we have relationships with airlines that we don’t have with airports. When it comes to flying, we choose our airline carefully. Yet we rarely think about how we get to the airport.</p>
<p>Airlines are experts in customer communication and engagement. They operate some of the largest frequent-flyer programs in the world. Last time we checked, Qantas had <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/frequent-flyer/qantas">15 million</a> program members and Virgin had <a href="https://newsroom.virginaustralia.com/release/velocity-frequent-flyer-soars-11-million-members">11 million</a>. </p>
<p>Through these channels, airlines learn about us and how we tick when it comes to making flying choices. This puts them in an ideal position to keep us informed about door-to-door travel and drive the transition towards greener airport ground-connection options. To give them an incentive to do so, their efforts should be recognised through emission accounting.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Air travellers enter the airport train station" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541376/original/file-20230807-17-tiylg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541376/original/file-20230807-17-tiylg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541376/original/file-20230807-17-tiylg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541376/original/file-20230807-17-tiylg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541376/original/file-20230807-17-tiylg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541376/original/file-20230807-17-tiylg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541376/original/file-20230807-17-tiylg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It makes sense to give airlines an incentive to play a greater role in promoting low-emissions travel to and from the airport.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blue-sky-thinking-net-zero-aviation-is-more-than-a-flight-of-fantasy-171940">Blue-sky thinking: net-zero aviation is more than a flight of fantasy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A cost-effective way to cut emissions</h2>
<p>Travellers using the Sydney Airport train station must pay an <a href="https://www.opal.com.au/en/opal-fares/airport_station_access_fee/">access fee</a>, which adds <a href="https://airportlink.com.au/trip-information/price/">A$15.74</a> to the cost of the journey. As our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920923002468">paper</a> highlights, the average customer using the airport train removes 2.7kg of CO₂. Achieving the same amount of decarbonisation during the flight using more sustainable aviation fuel – which is more expensive – would cost the customer about the same: between $10 and $16.</p>
<p>So there is an opportunity for airlines to highlight this decarbonisation outcome as a way to persuade travellers to reconsider driving a car or catching a taxi, and instead take the airport train or bus. Airlines could also consider collaborating with airports to build airport charging facilities for electric vehicles as uptake in Australia approaches a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/31/australian-electric-vehicles-ev-sales-rise-increase">double-digit share</a> of new vehicle sales.</p>
<p>This overlooked opportunity to cut door-to-door emissions from air travel has a substantial upside. It deserves far more attention from airlines, airports and consumers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rico Merkert receives funding from the ARC and various industry partners. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Li's research has received financial support from iMOVE Australia and in-kind support from Air New Zealand.</span></em></p>Air travel emissions are proving difficult and costly to cut, but travellers can make a surprisingly big difference simply by changing how they travel to and from the airport.Rico Merkert, Professor in Transport and Supply Chain Management and Deputy Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS), University of Sydney Business School, University of SydneyDavid Li, PhD Candidate, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2090412023-07-16T20:00:42Z2023-07-16T20:00:42ZWhy do I have to take my laptop out of the bag at airport security?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537438/original/file-20230714-15-diyhpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C688%2C5742%2C2884&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>Anyone who has travelled by air in the past ten years will know how stressful airports can be.</p>
<p>You didn’t leave home as early as you should have. In the mad rush to get to your gate, the security screening seems to slow everything down. And to add insult to injury, you’re met with the finicky request: “laptops out of bags, please”.</p>
<p>But what does your laptop have to do with security?</p>
<h2>The day that changed air travel forever</h2>
<p>Airport security changed dramatically after the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11 2001. Before 9/11, you could pass through security with a carry-on bag full of everything you might need for your holiday, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/10/1035131619/911-travel-timeline-tsa">including a knife</a> with a four-inch blade. Indeed, that’s how the 9/11 attackers brought their <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/10/1035131619/911-travel-timeline-tsa">weapons on board</a>.</p>
<p>After 9/11, screening processes around the world changed overnight. In the US, private security contractors being paid a minimum wage were swapped out for a federalised program with highly trained security personnel. Anything that could be <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00654/full">considered a weapon</a> was confiscated.</p>
<p>Around the world, travellers were suddenly required to <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6hBnJ-1hRp0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA86&dq=why+do+I+have+to+take+my+shoes+off+at+airport+security&ots=o6JIFHJzF1&sig=B6azb6xqN2uxM9CP-VZdfyt3Ag0#v=onepage&q=why%20do%20I%20have%20to%20take%20my%20shoes%20off%20at%20airport%20security&f=false">remove their shoes</a>, belts and outerwear, and take out their phones, laptops, liquids and anything else that could be used as part of an improvised explosive device.</p>
<p>This lasted for several years. Eventually, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212478013000944">more advanced</a> screening methods were developed to effectively identify certain threats. Today, some countries don’t require you to remove your shoes when passing through security.</p>
<p>So why must you still take your laptop out? </p>
<h2>Airport scanners have come a long way</h2>
<p>The machine your bags and devices pass through is an X-ray machine. </p>
<p>The main reason you have to remove your laptop from your bag is because its <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/reviews-and-advice/why-do-i-have-to-remove-my-laptop-from-my-bag-at-the-airport-xray-machine-20170320-gv1vqs.html">battery</a> and other mechanical components are too dense for X-rays to penetrate effectively – especially if the scanning system is old. The same goes for power cords and other devices such as tablets and cameras.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537439/original/file-20230714-21-x0ojbc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537439/original/file-20230714-21-x0ojbc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537439/original/file-20230714-21-x0ojbc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537439/original/file-20230714-21-x0ojbc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537439/original/file-20230714-21-x0ojbc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537439/original/file-20230714-21-x0ojbc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537439/original/file-20230714-21-x0ojbc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537439/original/file-20230714-21-x0ojbc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Due to the size and construction of components in your laptop, X-rays can’t penetrate them as well as other materials.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With these items in your bag, security officials can’t use the screened image to determine whether a risk is present. They’ll have to flag the bag for a physical search, which slows everything down. It’s easier if all devices are removed in the first place.</p>
<p>A laptop inside a bag can also shield other items from view that may be dangerous. Scanning it separately reveals its internal components on the screen. In some cases you might be asked to turn it on to prove it’s an actual working computer.</p>
<p>With newer multi-view scanning technology, security officials can view the bag from multiple angles to discern whether something is being covered up, or made to look like something else. For instance, people have tried to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212478013000944">mix gun parts</a> with other components in an effort to pass checked baggage screening. </p>
<p>Some airports have upgraded <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/no-more-removing-liquids-and-gels-laptops-at-melbourne-airport-as-new-scanners-installed-20191002-h1ijdf.html">3D scanning</a> that allows travellers to pass their bags through security without having to remove their laptops. If you’re not asked to take out your laptop, it’s probably because one of these more expensive systems is being used.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, amping up the technology won’t remove the lag caused by airport screenings. Ultimately, the reason these are a major choke point is because of the speed at which staff scan the imagery (which dictates the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212478013000944">speed of the conveyor belt</a>).</p>
<p>Unless we find a way to automate the entire process and run it with minimal human supervision, you can expect delays.</p>
<h2>What about body scanners?</h2>
<p>But your bags aren’t the only thing getting scanned at airport security. You are too! </p>
<p>The tall frame you walk through is a <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/airport-security3.htm">metal detector</a>. Its purpose is to uncover any weapons or other illegal objects that may be concealed under your clothes. Airport metal detectors use non-ionising radiation, which means they don’t emit X-rays. </p>
<p>The larger body scanners, on the other hand, are a type of X-ray machine. These can be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212478013000944">active or passive</a>, or a combination of both.</p>
<p>Passive scanners simply detect the natural radiation emitted by your body and any objects that might be concealed. Active scanners emit low-energy radiation to create a scan of your body, which can then be analysed. </p>
<p>The kind of machine you walk through will depend on where in the world you are. For instance, one type of active body scanner that emits X-rays in what’s called “backscatter technology” was once <a href="https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/backscatter-x-ray.htm">used widely</a> in the US, but is no longer used. It’s also banned in <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-us/what-we-do/travelsecure/passenger-screening">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2011/11/15/europe-bans-airport-body-scanners-over-health-and-safety-concerns/">the European Union</a>, where only non-ionising technology can be used.</p>
<p>Another type of scanner emits lower-energy <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/backscatter-machines-vs-millimeter-wave-scanners.htm">millimetre waves</a>, instead of X-rays, to image the passenger. Millimetre wave frequencies are considered to be non-ionising radiation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537440/original/file-20230714-27-gwwiup.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537440/original/file-20230714-27-gwwiup.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537440/original/file-20230714-27-gwwiup.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537440/original/file-20230714-27-gwwiup.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537440/original/file-20230714-27-gwwiup.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537440/original/file-20230714-27-gwwiup.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537440/original/file-20230714-27-gwwiup.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537440/original/file-20230714-27-gwwiup.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Millimetre wave scanners usually produce a 3D scan of a person.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/air-travel-exposes-you-to-radiation-how-much-health-risk-comes-with-it-78790">Air travel exposes you to radiation – how much health risk comes with it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>AI in our airports</h2>
<p>AI seems to be all around us lately, and our airports are no exception. Advancements in AI systems stand to transform the future of airport security.</p>
<p>For now, human reviewers are required to identify potential threats in scanned images. However, what if an advanced <a href="https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/artiificialintelligenceinsecuritycheck/article/">AI was trained</a> to do this using a database of images? It would do so in a fraction of the time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-safest-seat-on-a-plane-we-asked-an-aviation-expert-198672">What's the safest seat on a plane? We asked an aviation expert</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some airports are already using advanced <a href="https://www.in-security.eu/index.php/editorial/the-future-of-airport-security-faster-smarter-safer">computed tomography</a> (CT) <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/21/3d-body-scanners-at-australian-airports-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work">scanners</a> to produce high-definition 3D imagery. In the future, this technology could be further enhanced by AI to detect threats at a much faster rate. </p>
<p>Hypothetically, CT scans could also be used for both humans and their baggage. Could this allow travellers to walk through a body scanner while carrying their bags? Possibly.</p>
<p>Until then, you should probably try your best to leave the house on time.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: this article previously said X-ray backscatter technology is widely used in US airports, when in fact it is no longer used.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Doug Drury does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some countries no longer require you to remove your shoes when passing through security – but taking out your laptop is still mostly required.Doug Drury, Professor/Head of Aviation, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2089302023-07-03T20:07:16Z2023-07-03T20:07:16ZTurtles on the tarmac could delay flights at Western Sydney airport<p>Amid the controversy surrounding <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-27/western-sydney-airport-flight-paths-made-public/102524808">preliminary flight paths</a> for <a href="https://www.westernsydneyairport.gov.au/">Western Sydney’s new airport</a>, another potential challenge is looming: turtles on the tarmac. </p>
<p>The land surrounding Sydney’s newest airport is prime nesting area for native turtles. This may create problems for the airport’s operations. </p>
<p>Turtle invasions at airports are not unprecedented. In recent years, a freshwater turtle was found wandering around <a href="https://m.facebook.com/SydneyAirport/photos/a.302787769759897/2906361926069122/?type=3&locale=zh_CN">Sydney Airport</a>, which is built on Botany Bay. In 2021, a turtle strolling across a runway in Japan <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/28/turtle-slow-moving-reptile-delays-five-planes-at-japan-airport">delayed five planes</a>. A few years earlier, a passenger plane <a href="https://qcostarica.com/turtle-shuts-down-limon-airport/">aborted takeoff</a> because a 1.5m leatherback turtle was on the runway. And at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, employees <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/644989/nyc-airport-gets-barrier-to-protect-runway-from-armoured-short-slow-moving-turtle-threat/">carried 1,300 turtles</a> off the tarmac in one nesting season alone. </p>
<p>Our expertise spans zoology, conservation biology and ecology. We know individual freshwater turtles can wander well beyond their wetland habitat into areas where they pose a risk to aviation safety, if proper planning is not in place. We urge authorities to incorporate turtle-friendly features into the airport’s design and make contingency plans for these remarkable reptiles.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vHbM3ytHKdA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Western Sydney airport: construction is well underway.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-turtle-program-shows-citizen-science-isnt-just-great-for-data-it-makes-science-feel-personal-155142">Our turtle program shows citizen science isn't just great for data, it makes science feel personal</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Western Sydney airport is turtle nesting habitat</h2>
<p>Freshwater turtles face an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982220306369">uncertain future</a>. Their numbers in Australia are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39096-3">declining</a>. Globally, more than half of all freshwater turtle species face <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30636-9">extinction</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/zo17065">Collisions with vehicles</a> are a main cause of death for adult freshwater turtles across south-eastern Australia. And data collected through the <a href="https://1millionturtles.com">1 Million Turtles</a> citizen science tool <a href="https://TurtleSAT.org.au">TurtleSAT</a> reveals Western Sydney is a roadkill hotspot. </p>
<p>Wetlands, including the area around the new airport at Badgerys Creek, serve as prime nesting habitat. Citizen science data also feeds into our world-first predictive <a href="https://emydura6.users.earthengine.app/view/predicted-nests-and-water-bodies">nest mapping tool</a>, which confirms Sydney’s newest airport is prime nesting area for both long- and short-neck turtles. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535185/original/file-20230703-213604-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left, hotspots of turtle roadkill in Western Sydney. Right, predicting turtle nesting areas at Western Sydney airport.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">TurtleSAT and 1 Million Turtles</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Turtles nest throughout the airport district from November to January. Given the number of wetlands and the extent of cleared, open vegetation, turtles can be expected to emerge from the water and traverse the entire area during this period.</p>
<p>Between nesting seasons, eastern long-necked turtles often move between wetlands on rainy days.</p>
<p>Redirecting turtles away from runways (and roads) is a challenging but feasible task. It requires proactive planning, integration of turtle-friendly design elements, and recognition of their significance in environmental impact assessments. </p>
<p>Construction of the Western Sydney airport involved filling in streams and farm dams. The Environmental Impact Statement for the project, released in 2016, <a href="https://www.westernsydneyairport.gov.au/sites/default/files/WSA-EIS-Volume-2a-Chapter-16-Biodiversity.pdf">recognised</a> the threat to turtles. To mitigate the impact on aquatic animals generally, the proponents planned to salvage and relocate them to nearby habitats deemed suitable. </p>
<p>A spokesperson for Western Sydney airport, contacted for comment on this story, said all of the required wildlife and risk management procedures would be in place when the airport opens in late 2026. She said the turtle habitat was well outside of the airport site, so the risk of turtles on the runway was negligible.</p>
<p>But around the airport, many streams and wetlands remain. So we believe there’s still a chance turtles will enter the airport grounds and, potentially, walk onto runways.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-cold-blooded-animals-are-suffering-the-most-as-earth-heats-up-research-finds-190606">Young cold-blooded animals are suffering the most as Earth heats up, research finds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Turtles at the crossroads</h2>
<p>Turtles are often little more than an afterthought in hectic construction plans and timetables. Wetlands are often filled in and roads built without any thought to wildlife crossings. </p>
<p>Our study of the wetlands of Western Sydney, and the corridor between north-western and south-western Sydney, found up to 25% of wetlands were lost <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.22.12736">in the last decade alone</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map showing the change in western Sydney wetland surface area between 2010 and 2017 by local government area" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535249/original/file-20230703-240908-y2xpsk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Change in western Sydney wetland surface area between 2010 and 2017 by local government area: more than 1% increase (green), 0-10% decrease (orange), more than 10% decrease (red).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harriet Gabites</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While groups such as <a href="https://www.wildconservation.com.au/turtle-rescues-nsw/">Turtle Rescue NSW</a> can relocate wildlife such as turtles, eels and fish, many animals die when streams and wetlands are <a href="https://www.westernsydneyairport.gov.au/sites/default/files/WSA-EIS-Volume-2a-Chapter-16-Biodiversity.pdf">drained and filled</a> during development.</p>
<p>Western Sydney’s new airport offers an opportunity to break this pattern. Construction has passed the half-way mark but it’s not too late to incorporate turtle-friendly infrastructure such as <a href="https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1466&context=theses">specialised underpasses</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wlb3.01012">fencing</a> to guide these slow-paced wanderers away from high-risk areas. We also need monitoring programs to check interventions are working and identify any problems along the way. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/our-turtle-program-shows-citizen-science-isnt-just-great-for-data-it-makes-science-feel-personal-155142">Our research</a> emphasises education and awareness campaigns foster a culture of understanding and respect. This is important to ensure the long-term survival of turtles in the region. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535178/original/file-20230703-120725-20iemj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535178/original/file-20230703-120725-20iemj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535178/original/file-20230703-120725-20iemj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535178/original/file-20230703-120725-20iemj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535178/original/file-20230703-120725-20iemj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535178/original/file-20230703-120725-20iemj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535178/original/file-20230703-120725-20iemj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535178/original/file-20230703-120725-20iemj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A short neck turtle, with a swamp hen photobomber in the background, basking in a freshwater pond at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">TurtleSAT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It’s not too late for Western Sydney’s turtles</h2>
<p>We must prioritise turtle-friendly design and integrate turtles into environmental impact assessments for major developments. </p>
<p>The likely presence of turtles on runways at Western Sydney’s new airport warrants immediate attention. The project and its network of major roads are a chance to demonstrate how major urban infrastructure and wildlife can coexist harmoniously. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>We acknowledge the vital contribution of Western Sydney University masters student Harriet Gabites to research on the turtles of Western Sydney and this article.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-western-sydney-is-feeling-the-heat-from-climate-change-more-than-the-rest-of-the-city-201477">Why Western Sydney is feeling the heat from climate change more than the rest of the city</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ricky Spencer receives funding from Australian Research Council, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Aussie Ark and WIRES. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Bower works for the University of New England and receives funding from the Australian Research Council, NSW Department of Planning and Environment, NSW Northern Tablelands Local Land Service, SA Department of Environment and Water, and the Australian Federal Citizen Science Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Van Dyke receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Federal Citizen Science program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael B. Thompson receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Thomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Turtles could spell trouble for Western Sydney Airport, which is being built in a wetland. But it’s not too late to include turtle-friendly infrastructure such as underpasses and fences.Ricky Spencer, Associate Professor of Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityDeborah Bower, Associate Professor in Zoology and Ecology, University of New EnglandJames Van Dyke, Associate Professor in Biomedical Sciences, La Trobe UniversityMichael B Thompson, Emeritus Professor in Zoology, University of SydneyRichard Thomas, Senior lecturer, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2079262023-06-22T20:06:58Z2023-06-22T20:06:58ZWhy can’t I use my phone or take photos on the airport tarmac? Is it against the law?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533331/original/file-20230622-27-61n5mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5392%2C3581&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-may-27-2018-people-by-1111827515">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mobile phones are not allowed to be used while on a plane because they can interfere with the aeroplane’s navigation instruments and <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-the-real-reason-to-turn-on-aeroplane-mode-when-you-fly-188585">cause various safety and social issues</a>.</p>
<p>As soon as the plane lands, we’re permitted to turn off flight mode, but at some airports we can’t get much of a signal. That’s because airports are known as mobile signal “<a href="https://thepointsguy.com/news/slow-connection-airport-tarmacs/">dead zones</a>” due to a lack of mobile towers – they can’t be placed at the airport itself due to height restrictions.</p>
<p>Any nearby mobile towers would be located away from the airport’s runway systems to avoid interfering with the aeroplane’s flight path, especially take-off and landing direction. Most airports put up indoor repeater antennas within the airport terminal; these help increase the mobile signal strength coming from the nearest mobile tower somewhere near the airport.</p>
<p>But you won’t be allowed to make calls while walking away from the plane, anyway.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-the-real-reason-to-turn-on-aeroplane-mode-when-you-fly-188585">Here's the real reason to turn on aeroplane mode when you fly</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why can’t I use my phone on the tarmac?</h2>
<p>As we are taxiing in, the <a href="https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-experience/onboard/communication.html">cabin crew</a> remind us not to smoke outside of designated areas at the terminal and not to use our mobile phones until we are inside the terminal building.</p>
<p>If you exit the plane down the rear stairs, why aren’t you allowed to use your phone once away from the aeroplane, if you can get a signal? Surely it won’t affect navigation.</p>
<p>The answer is manifold, and regulations aren’t the same across the world.</p>
<p>In Australia, a <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/operations-safety-and-travel/travel-and-passengers/onboard-safety-and-behaviour/using-your-electronic-devices-flights">government regulation</a> prohibits the use of mobile phones on the tarmac – the aeroplane movement and parking area of the airport.</p>
<p>You won’t be fined if you whip your phone out while walking to the terminal, but the airline may admonish you for not following the rules. However, if you decide to (<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/woman-arrested-after-running-onto-tarmac-at-melbourne-airport-20151125-gl7bkq.html">run around on the tarmac</a>, you could get arrested by federal police.</p>
<p>The airport tarmac is very busy not just with aircraft, but also baggage carts, catering trucks, aeroplane waste removal trucks, and fuel trucks. Getting passengers off the tarmac and into the terminal building quickly and safely is a priority for the staff.</p>
<p>If you are distracted while walking to the terminal building because you’re talking on your phone, it can be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/25/alabama-airport-worker-killed-jet-engine-safety-warnings">highly dangerous and even deadly</a> if you end up too close to an operating plane. An operating jet engine is extremely hot and has a strong exhaust. Additionally, the front of the engine has a low-pressure area called an <a href="https://www.ukfrs.com/guidance/search/aircraft-systems-and-construction">ingestion zone</a> that can suck in a person. Ground staff are trained to stay at least ten metres away from this area. However, this information is not shared with the passengers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533338/original/file-20230622-19-4wmz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Long view photo of a snowy grey tarmac with an air canada plane and several fuel and other support trucks around it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533338/original/file-20230622-19-4wmz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533338/original/file-20230622-19-4wmz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533338/original/file-20230622-19-4wmz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533338/original/file-20230622-19-4wmz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533338/original/file-20230622-19-4wmz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533338/original/file-20230622-19-4wmz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533338/original/file-20230622-19-4wmz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The tarmac is busy with crew, various support and fuel vehicles, and airplanes themselves, with plenty of hazards for a passenger who wanders into the wrong area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/OIf5dPuecMg">David Preston/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A myth about fuel</h2>
<p>You may have heard that mobile phones are a fire hazard near fuel, and aeroplanes are, of course, refuelled on the tarmac.</p>
<p>However, the chances of fuel catching fire during this process are extremely low, because the refuelling truck is <a href="https://safetyfirst.airbus.com/safe-aircraft-refuelling/">bonded and “grounded” to the plane</a>: the operator attaches a wire to the aircraft to move built-up static electricity to the ground to prevent any chance of a spark. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533350/original/file-20230622-18-ot2mup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sign at a petrol station showing smoking and mobile phones are prohibited" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533350/original/file-20230622-18-ot2mup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533350/original/file-20230622-18-ot2mup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533350/original/file-20230622-18-ot2mup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533350/original/file-20230622-18-ot2mup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533350/original/file-20230622-18-ot2mup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533350/original/file-20230622-18-ot2mup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533350/original/file-20230622-18-ot2mup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Warning about mobile phones at petrol stations are inaccurate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/warning-sign-gas-petroleum-industrial-prevention-2084569294">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There have been stories in the press about mobile phones sparking <a href="https://www.verizon.com/about/news/vzw/2014/12/fact-or-fiction-using-a-cell-phone-at-the-gas-station-can-cause-a-fire">fires at petrol stations in Indonesia and Australia</a>, but these turned out to be inaccurate. There is <a href="https://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/AboutTheCodes/30A/FI%20-%20NFPA%2030A-2015%20Para%208.3.1%20-%20Attachments%2014-19.2017-04-04.pdf">no evidence a phone can spark a fire at a fuel pump</a>, despite the warning labels you might see.</p>
<p>Either way, the chances of a mobile phone causing this on the tarmac with a refuelling truck that is grounded to the aeroplane are extremely low, not least because the passenger permitted areas and refuelling areas are completely separated.</p>
<h2>Why are we told not to take photos on the tarmac?</h2>
<p>This rule varies from airport to airport depending on their <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/can-i-film-and-take-photos-security-checkpoint">security processes</a>.</p>
<p>Such restrictions are carryovers from the changes to airport security following the <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/jlecono50&i=739">September 11 2001 terrorist attacks</a>. The now federalised security teams, TSA (Transportation Security Administration) in the United States and the Department of Home Affairs in Australia, change their processes frequently to prevent having any identifiable patterns that could be used to create a security breach.</p>
<p>The increased security measures also mean new technologies were introduced; airport security sections do not want photos taken of how they operate. </p>
<p>The airport security process is a major choke point in the flow of passenger movement due to the screening process. If a passenger is perceived to be slowing the process down by taking photos or talking on their phone, they will be reminded to turn off their device and/or stop taking photos of security personnel and equipment.</p>
<p>If you refuse to follow the rules of the screening process, you will be <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-us/what-we-do/travelsecure/passenger-screening">denied entry</a> into the airport terminal gate area and miss your flight. Can you also get arrested for using your phone? Depends on the airport and country. I, for one, do not want to find out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Doug Drury does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lingering on the tarmac once you get off a plane through the rear door is unadvisable for many reasons – here’s why the staff want your phone in your pocket.Doug Drury, Professor/Head of Aviation, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049962023-05-07T12:38:13Z2023-05-07T12:38:13ZCanadian airlines brace for a summer of change as U.S. airlines consider reforms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524221/original/file-20230503-19-okemwv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=399%2C296%2C2510%2C1836&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Air Canada jet takes off from Montréal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on June 30, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadian-airlines-brace-for-a-summer-of-change-as-u-s--airlines-consider-reforms" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105524-highlights.pdf">on the causes of flight disruptions before and after the pandemic</a>. The report also outlined the challenges airlines faced managing and responding to these flight disruptions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105524.pdf">The report</a> was the result of requests made by the U.S. Congress to the GAO to examine key changes in the U.S. passenger airline industry resulting from the pandemic.</p>
<p>For those of us who experienced <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-canada-flight-reductions-faqs-about-the-chaos-in-the-airline-industry-185750">the chaotic Canadian aviation environment last summer</a> — especially those that used Toronto’s Pearson Airport and Montréal’s Trudeau Airport — it is difficult to forget the lines of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-pearson-airport-delays-1.6481605">passengers waiting in queues for hours</a>, <a href="http://prod-test.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/06/28/you-%20think-you-have-baggage-luggage-is-piling-up-at-pearson-perplexing-travellers.html">mishandled baggage</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8970277/air-canada-pearson-rank-no-1-delays-worldwide-montreal-check-%20in-freezes/">unprecedented flight delays</a>.</p>
<p>For an industry with extensive regulatory oversight provided by the federal government, it has been interesting to examine and contrast the <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/TRAN/meeting-26/evidence">parliamentary efforts made in Canada to address flight disruptions</a> with similar efforts being made by U.S. Congress.</p>
<h2>Canadian airline reforms</h2>
<p>Canada’s Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/TRAN/meeting-27/evidence">held a meeting on Aug. 19, 2022 to hear Omar Alghabra</a>, the minister of transport, voice his concerns about flight delays and cancellations. </p>
<p>The meeting focused on the need to better protect air travellers’ rights in the face of such events. </p>
<p>This focus on passenger rights continues to this day. <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9646294/air-passenger-rights-changes-compensation-loopholes/">At the end of April, Alghabra announced reforms</a> for the Canadian Transportation Agency’s appeal-handling process and the Canadian Transportation Act. Airlines will be required to handle claims and provide a response to complaints within 30 days.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man wearing a suit and glasses speaks from behind a microphone on a desk. A row of Canadian flags stand behind him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524217/original/file-20230503-17-n9r1yz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524217/original/file-20230503-17-n9r1yz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524217/original/file-20230503-17-n9r1yz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524217/original/file-20230503-17-n9r1yz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524217/original/file-20230503-17-n9r1yz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524217/original/file-20230503-17-n9r1yz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524217/original/file-20230503-17-n9r1yz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra speaks at a news conference on proposed changes to air passenger rights, in Ottawa, on April 24, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The amendments, which are currently tabled in the House of Commons as part of a budget implementation bill, will affect the penalties air carriers face for violating air passenger protection rights. </p>
<p>In particular, the amendments will increase the maximum fine for violations to $250,000 and charge carriers with the regulatory cost of complaints.</p>
<p>The GAO’s analysis and recommendations, by comparison, are much more detailed.</p>
<h2>U.S. airline reforms</h2>
<p>The U.S. Department of Transportation has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flight-delays-would-mean-compensation-for-customers-under-proposed-rule-2022-8">recently initiated passenger protection regulation development</a> similar to the ones Canada has had in place since 2019.</p>
<p>However, the Department of Transportation has yet to address specific compensation levels for passengers that have experienced flight delays — provisions that have already been adopted by Canada and are <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-%20content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3Al24173">similar to those in effect in the European Union</a>.</p>
<p>An intriguing element of the GAO report is its review of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s awareness of airline scheduling practices and how such practices have impacted flight delays and cancellations.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/820/819136.pdf">In its report, the GAO stated</a> the department of transportation has the authority to “regulate unfair and deceptive practices of airlines, which includes unrealistic scheduling practices.”</p>
<p>The Department of Transportation defines unrealistic scheduling as “the scheduling of flights that airlines cannot generally and reasonably be expected to fulfill.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman walks in front of a screen displaying flight schedules." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524216/original/file-20230503-24-1sjo91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524216/original/file-20230503-24-1sjo91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524216/original/file-20230503-24-1sjo91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524216/original/file-20230503-24-1sjo91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524216/original/file-20230503-24-1sjo91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524216/original/file-20230503-24-1sjo91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524216/original/file-20230503-24-1sjo91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cancelled flights are seen in red on the flight schedules at the Southwest terminal at Los Angeles International Airport in December 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The report concludes that various stakeholders, including several airlines and worker unions, published unrealistic flight schedules, which carriers cannot reasonably be expected to fulfill.</p>
<p>The Department of Transportation indicated it will make an effort next year to build and sustain its oversight and analysis of airline scheduling practices. This will ensure airlines maintain realistic schedules and minimize the impact of flight disruptions on passengers.</p>
<h2>Lessons for Canada</h2>
<p>It is critical that effort be made to provide fair and meaningful compensation in a timely manner to air passengers that have been subjected to airline delays and cancellations. But it is equally — if not more — important to address the underlying causes of such disruptions.</p>
<p>Effective oversight of published airline schedules must be provided. Canadian air travellers should be able to trust an airline’s published schedule — especially as air travellers often purchase tickets long before their flight. </p>
<p>Should Transport Canada step into this oversight role? It might be time to seriously consider establishing a distinct civil aviation authority, separate from Transport Canada.</p>
<p>Canadians’ patience with the actions of various organizations in Canada’s aviation sector has been wearing thin. At the same time, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/united-ceo-airlines-scheduling-flights">rumblings of a return to regulation is starting up</a> in the U.S. airline industry.</p>
<p>Canada’s <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/transportation-regulation">experiment with deregulation occurred close to 40 years ago</a>, but airline scheduling oversight might be one of several areas ripe for similar scheduling reforms in the face of airline disruptions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204996/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Gradek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While it is critical that air passengers be compensated for airline delays and cancellations, it is equally — if not more — important to address the underlying causes of such disruptions.John Gradek, Faculty Lecturer and Program Co-ordinator, Supply Chain, Logistics and Operations Management, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2028942023-03-29T18:23:20Z2023-03-29T18:23:20ZFederal budget 2023: Long-term investments are needed to fix Canada’s infrastructure gap<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518282/original/file-20230329-26-aztqml.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C128%2C8508%2C5599&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The budget is focused on building communities through infrastructure, housing, transit and connectivity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government’s <a href="https://www.budget.canada.ca/2023/report-rapport/toc-tdm-en.html">2023 budget</a> unveiled investments in infrastructure, with a narrative highlighting resilient and sustainable communities, and pointing to Ottawa’s progress and investments to date. </p>
<p>The budget is focused on building communities through infrastructure, housing, transit and connectivity. Much of this emphasizes investments made since 2015, including <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/pub/dp-pm/2022-23/2022-supp-tp-pt-eng.html">$33.5 billion to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program</a>, and $35 billion to the <a href="https://cib-bic.ca/en/about-us/our-purpose/">Canada Infrastructure Bank</a>.</p>
<h2>Funding critical infrastructure</h2>
<p>The budget’s investments include funding advanced research in infrastructure innovation, and continuing to invest in Canada’s Infrastructure Bank and Infrastructure Program. </p>
<p>The bank will play a leading role in electrification as part of the government’s push for clean power. This will likely position the bank as the government’s primary financing tool for major electrification projects. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518277/original/file-20230329-2823-j8ruvo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A women in a green suit speaking in Parliament" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518277/original/file-20230329-2823-j8ruvo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518277/original/file-20230329-2823-j8ruvo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518277/original/file-20230329-2823-j8ruvo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518277/original/file-20230329-2823-j8ruvo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518277/original/file-20230329-2823-j8ruvo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518277/original/file-20230329-2823-j8ruvo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518277/original/file-20230329-2823-j8ruvo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland delivers the federal budget in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 28, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Budget 2023 also commits to engaging with provinces and territories to revise procurement policies to ensure they benefit Canadian workers and build resilient supply chains. There are also investments in <a href="https://www.budget.canada.ca/2023/report-rapport/chap3-en.html#a13">port, air and other critical transportation infrastructure</a>.</p>
<p>We know that <a href="http://canadainfrastructure.ca/en/index.html">Canada’s infrastructure is at risk</a>. Federal infrastructure investments can help to take financial pressure off municipalities that are faced with massive funding shortfalls in addressing their infrastructure concerns. With the population expected to grow, infrastructure will continue to be stressed and will <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canada-immigration-plans">struggle to keep up</a> without proper funding. </p>
<p>Budget 2023 provides no new major funds for what is considered essential community infrastructure: roads, water, wastewater and other infrastructure assets. Unlike electrification and connectivity — many aspects of Canada’s infrastructure gap remain relegated to low-priority status. </p>
<p>More investment is needed to address critical infrastructure gaps, but these are investments that Canadians may not be ready to make. Previous budgets have focused on short-term infrastructure investments as an economic stimulus, which doesn’t support the <a href="https://macleans.ca/opinion/canada-needs-more-infrastructure-spending-but-not-as-short-term-stimulus/">long-term view infrastructure requires</a>.</p>
<h2>Canada’s infrastructure gap</h2>
<p>A 2013 report on <a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/canadas-infrastructure-gap">Canada’s infrastructure gap</a> highlighted the chronic issues in infrastructure investments, including the notion that <a href="https://theconversation.com/progress-stops-when-we-create-and-dismantle-infrastructure-programs-every-federal-election-166301">infrastructure remains a political hot potato</a>. </p>
<p>Between the late 1950s and mid 2000s, <a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2013/01/Canada%27s%20Infrastructure%20Gap_0.pdf">public investment in infrastructure decreased</a> from around three per cent of GDP to 1.5 per cent, though it began to rise again in 2010. </p>
<p>During this same period, there was a significant shift in terms of who carries the burden of investing in infrastructure from the federal government, with a large revenue base, to municipalities who have the smallest revenue base.</p>
<p>Canada’s infrastructure deficit is at minimum estimated at <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/time-and-money-lost-to-canadas-infrastructure-gap-a-tremendous-loss/article37302054/">$150 billion</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/fao-report-stormwater-wastewater-infrastructure-extreme-rainfall-1.6684988">Local governments bear much of the additional infrastructure costs</a> related to extreme events, climate change mitigation and adaptation. </p>
<p>In 2013, floods <a href="https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/weather/forecasts/the-top-five-costliest-canadian-natural-disasters-of-the-2010s">caused around $3 billion in damage in southern Alberta and Toronto</a>. The cost of rebuilding in British Columbia after 2021 flooding has reached <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-cost-of-rebuilding-bc-after-november-storms-nears-9-billion/">nearly $9 billion</a>. The annual cost of natural disasters in Canada could be <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9091585/canada-climate-disasters-damage-report/">up to $139 billion by 2050</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518288/original/file-20230329-22-satzwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sign that reads: bridge is out on a snowy road." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518288/original/file-20230329-22-satzwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518288/original/file-20230329-22-satzwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518288/original/file-20230329-22-satzwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518288/original/file-20230329-22-satzwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518288/original/file-20230329-22-satzwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518288/original/file-20230329-22-satzwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518288/original/file-20230329-22-satzwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A ‘Bridge is out’ sign is seen following flood damage in Merritt, B.C. in December 2021. Extreme weather events like floods and wildfires are placing greater pressure on public infrastructure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Internationally, governments are struggling with the same issues. From U.S. President Joe Biden’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-touts-1-trillion-infrastructure-bill-2022-08-19/">$1 trillion infrastructure bill</a> to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-08-25/how-china-will-spend-1-trillion-on-infrastructure-to-boost-economy">China’s infrastructure investments</a>, infrastructure demand remains a constant across international communities from large to small. </p>
<p>But the question remains, where and how should we invest? And more importantly, what do you do when too few people seem to pay attention? North Americans have an imbalanced relationship with infrastructure, and our understanding of priority and need. We <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/06/biden-infrastructure-democrats-voters-00064694">care less about infrastructure investments</a> when we can’t see the direct benefits.</p>
<p>What we see in the 2023 budget is a careful dance. The government needs to show it’s making investments in infrastructure without further stretching public finances or making the tough choices that our dilapidated infrastructure requires. </p>
<p>No political party is protected from the curse of the infrastructure deficit — and there are no winners in the game of infrastructure funding. What it does require, is that we all collectively take responsibility. This means dealing with public spending deficits, even if that means paying more taxes. And strengthening our relationship with infrastructure and our collective understanding of the role that it plays in our daily lives. </p>
<p>Governments will need to take on additional costs, and individuals will need to learn to accept that improving our communities costs money. We all need to learn that the connection between infrastructure and our well-being is closer than we think.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerry Black receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. </span></em></p>The 2023 federal budget provides funding for critical infrastructure and clean energy. But long-term planning is needed to fix chronic problems.Kerry Black, Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair, Integrated Knowledge, Engineering and Sustainable Communities, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2015542023-03-11T12:59:49Z2023-03-11T12:59:49ZJetBlue merger with Spirit not cleared for takeoff – why Justice Department is suing to scupper deal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514695/original/file-20230310-15-7x9lo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C106%2C5497%2C3530&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stuck on the runway?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/JetBlueSpirit/9a027e428c5f4edfb2a7faff690109bf/photo?Query=JetBlue%20Spirit&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=45&currentItemNo=20">AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The U.S. Department of Justice has <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/07/doj-sues-to-block-jetblues-3-8-billion-spirit-takeover-00085828">intervened to block a proposed deal</a> that would see carrier JetBlue buy budget service Spirit Airlines.</em></p>
<p><em>In a lawsuit filed on March 7, 2023, the department warned that allowing the US$3.8 billion deal to go through would “<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.254267/gov.uscourts.mad.254267.1.0.pdf">eliminate the unique competition</a>” that Spirit, the lower cost airline, currently provides.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation asked Joe Mazur, an <a href="https://joemazur.io">expert on mergers and acquisitions</a> at Purdue University, what consolidation in the airline industry – and the proposed JetBlue-Spirit merger – means for consumers, and why the government is keen to block it.</em></p>
<h2>Why is the Justice Department intervening?</h2>
<p>The JetBlue-Spirit merger would bring more consolidation into an already <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airline-mergers-and-acquisitions-in-the-us-since-2000-2020-3">heavily consolidated industry</a>.</p>
<p>But it is more nuanced than that. JetBlue and Spirit have very different business models – JetBlue has positioned itself at the higher end of the low-cost carrier space, whereas Spirit is a through-and-through, no-frills, ultra-low-cost carrier. It keeps prices down by sacrificing things such as complimentary snacks and drinks, entertainment and comfort.</p>
<p>Although the deal is framed as a merger, it is really an attempted hostile takeover <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/10/20/jetblue-spirit-acquisition/">of Spirit by JetBlue</a>. As such, it’s not just the Justice Department that is worried about the impact of losing Spirit. According to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/1573131/download">the official complaint</a>, so too are Spirit’s board of directors.</p>
<p>The presence of an ultra-low-cost service like Spirit has a <a href="https://www.bu.ac.th/knowledgecenter/epaper/july_dec2004/sungkard.pdf">disciplining effect</a> on prices across the entire market – that is, it helps keep ticket prices down, especially in the markets where it competes.</p>
<p>The biggest concern is that if the merger is allowed to go ahead, JetBlue would simply reconfigure the assets of Spirit to match the service level and prices of JetBlue. For example, as cited in the complaint, JetBlue has indicated it plans to remove some seats from Spirit’s planes in order to bring them in line with the rest of the JetBlue fleet.</p>
<p>If it were the other way around – that is, if Spirit were buying JetBlue – then I’m not sure there would be a problem. Similarly if the merger was between Spirit and fellow low-cost carrier Frontier, a deal that was at <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/spirit-airlines-frontier-terminate-deal-that-was-marred-by-jetblues-rival-bid.html">one point on the table</a>, the government may not have gotten involved.</p>
<h2>How does this proposed merger fit the industry trend?</h2>
<p>There has been a ton of consolidation over the last couple of decades. The pursuit of profit motivates most every merger attempt, and it’s no secret that airlines weren’t making money for a long stretch. The 9/11 terrorist attacks, a series of pilot strikes, rising fuel costs, and a couple of recessions <a href="https://doi.org//10.1016/j.jeconbus.2004.06.003">hit the industry hard</a> in the early 2000s.</p>
<p>In 2005, Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9317550">filed for bankruptcy</a>. They both restructured, through laying off staff and streamlining services, and came out of bankruptcy a couple years later. Then in 2008 they <a href="https://simpleflying.com/delta-northwest-merger/">announced a merger</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time you started to hear about “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed/2022/04/18/will-wall-streets-capacity-discipline-enforcers-jump-back-in-as-airlines-report-earnings/?sh=3395d45b4873">capacity discipline</a>” – that is, the reduction, or at least slower introduction, of seats and flights overall. In short, the airlines were not competing as intensively in a bid to make flights more profitable for the entire industry. But such a plan is a lot easier to stick to when there are fewer players.</p>
<p>The deal between Delta and Northwest was followed by a series of other mergers. In 2010, United Airlines merged with Continental in an <a href="https://airwaysmag.com/continental-united-merger-completed/">$8.5 billion deal</a>. A year later, <a href="https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2010/09/27/update-southwest-to-buy-airtran-for-14b/28969123007/">Southwest bought AirTran Airways</a> for $1.4 billion.</p>
<p>In 2013, American Airlines and US Airways merged to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/dec/09/american-us-airways-merge-worlds-biggest-airlines">form the largest carrier</a> in the world at that time. Other mergers followed, including the <a href="https://apex.aero/articles/charu-jain-alaska-airlines-virgin-america-merger/#:%7E:text=In%20December%202016%2C%20Alaska%20Airlines,president%20and%20chief%20information%20officer.">combination of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America</a> in 2016. Today, per the government’s official complaint, the largest four airlines represent some 80% of airline traffic.</p>
<p>If the JetBlue-Spirit deal is scuttled, it would be the first time since 2001 that two airlines have <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2001/07/27/deals/united_usair/">abandoned a proposed merger</a> in the face of a lawsuit from the Justice Department. In that case it was a proposed merger between United Airlines and US Airways that the Bush administration claimed would result in <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2001/07/27/deals/united_usair/">higher fares and worse service</a>. Since then the government has stepped in on numerous occasions to block airline mergers, but has eventually given the green light following concessions from the airlines.</p>
<h2>What was behind the trend to consolidate?</h2>
<p>The traditional argument for mergers put forward by airlines is that they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11151-019-09717-2">produce a higher-quality, more efficient product</a> – it is a win-win, they say, generating benefits for consumers and investors alike. Oftentimes this is at least partly true. </p>
<p>However, consolidation also leads to higher profits simply by virtue of reduced competition. That is, you tend to make more money when there aren’t as many competitors. For example, my daughter’s lemonade stand will sell more lemonade if there isn’t a rival stand across the street – and she can even charge more per cup!</p>
<p>Similarly, airlines make more money when fewer of them are competing, and part of that is being able to raise prices for consumers. This aspect of consolidation is where the <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/clayton-act">Clayton Act</a>, which outlaws anti-competitive mergers, becomes relevant. And the Clayton Act is the basis for the Justice Department’s suit. </p>
<p>Mergers can also bring about scale efficiencies – there are real, proven benefits to having a large network.</p>
<p>But JetBlue will almost certainly need to restructure the merger if it is to be successful. This would likely mean the divestiture of assets – for example, the sale of landing rights at some airports to budget airlines, or relinquishing gate leases to others – to increase competition. American Airlines and US Airways <a href="https://skift.com/2013/02/13/american-airlines-us-airways-merger-the-concessions-theyll-have-to-make/">agreed to similar concessions</a> before they were allowed to merge, and JetBlue has already indicated plans to divest assets at some airports. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, I do not expect the merger to go through without a drastic change in the expected use of Spirit’s assets.</p>
<h2>Do mergers necessarily mean higher airfare?</h2>
<p>It depends on the merger and the market in question. Studies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1756-2171.12404">vary pretty widely</a> on this issue, based on the methodology they use, the macroeconomic context for the merger, and the type of businesses involved. But generally what you see is that after a merger, prices in overlap markets – those in which the two merging carriers compete – go <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1756-2171.12404">up by maybe 3-5% overall</a>, with larger increases on the order of 10-15% on routes where the overlap is especially significant. For JetBlue and Spirit, markets in and out of Fort Lauderdale, Boston, Hartford and others are most likely to see significant upticks.</p>
<p>This is because mergers generate upward pricing pressure by reducing competition. But, from a consumer’s point of view, that might be tolerable as long as the resulting product is better. This may be especially true if prices are held down because of resulting efficiency gains.</p>
<p>In the JetBlue and Spirit case, it might mean prices go up for the old Spirit flights, but not so much for the JetBlue flights. So if you are a JetBlue fan, this could be good news. It would mean that you can now fly to more places, and you get the same JetBlue services.</p>
<p>But if you are a Spirit die-hard, you will not like this at all. Instead of paying a lot less, you might have to pay more for a flight with add-ons you can do without. And if you are a frequent flier on just about any other airline, you can expect to lose the price-tempering effects of Spirit in the long run, given that it is the largest and fastest growing ultra-low-cost carrier in the market.</p>
<h2>Are claims that services improve through a merger true?</h2>
<p>The short answer appears to be yes for some mergers but not necessarily on all metrics. One study found that the effect of legacy mergers on fares was negligible and that overall, such deals were pro-competitive because they led to an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2017.12.002">increase in capacity</a>.</p>
<p>As to other metrics, such as easier boarding, more on-time flights, or better in-flight services, that is harder to judge. One study of five airline mergers indicated that on-time performance may get better in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/joie.12136">long run after the merger</a>, but even if on-time performance did improve, it may be the wrong way to look at service changes. If you are someone who relies on budget pricing, then being on time rather than a few minutes late, and having the option of nuts and a soda, might not be enough to offset the pain of having to hand over more money for the flight in the first place.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201554/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe Mazur has received funding from the National Science Foundation for study of competition models with application to the U.S. airline industry.</span></em></p>The Biden administration fears that further consolidation in the aviation industry will lead to worse outcomes for consumers – but do mergers necessarily push up prices?Joe Mazur, Assistant Professor of Economics, Purdue UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1988532023-02-07T22:01:18Z2023-02-07T22:01:18ZAfter months of chaos and disruption, has the Canadian commercial aviation industry learned its lesson?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508494/original/file-20230206-21-w2ddtu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C85%2C2856%2C1796&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The last seven months have seen delays, cancellations, mishandled baggage and miscommunication at Canadian airlines.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canadian air travellers can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The chaos at airlines and airports appears to finally be over, allowing travellers to once again take to the skies without frustrating delays and cancellations.</p>
<p>But how long will this relief last? Spring Break and the corresponding surge in holiday travel are just around the corner. </p>
<p>Will Canadian commercial aviation prove to have learned its lesson from the last seven months of <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-canada-flight-reductions-faqs-about-the-chaos-in-the-airline-industry-185750">delays, cancellations</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/missing-baggage-air-canada-1.6727981">mishandled baggage</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/passengers-need-more-than-apologies-from-airlines-after-holiday-chaos-198377">miscommunication</a>? </p>
<p>And if it hasn’t, how can Canadians better prepare themselves for potential disruptions in the future?</p>
<h2>Summer airline chaos</h2>
<p>In early 2022, Canadian air carriers celebrated when <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/covid-alta-edmonton-kenney-1.6343576">COVID-19 restrictions were lifted</a>. <a href="https://media.aircanada.com/2022-02-22-Air-Canada-Expands-its-Summer-2022-International-Schedule-Relaunching-34-Routes-to-Europe,-Asia,-Africa-and-The-Middle-East">Air Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/news/2022/welcome-back-to-the-skies-canada">WestJet</a> announced significant increases in their summer 2022 operations, touting a relaunch of services to regain traffic and revenue lost during 2020 and 2021 from service interruptions.</p>
<p>Canadian air travellers welcomed these services back, anxious to shed the yoke of COVID-19 travel restrictions and return to the wanderlust of seeing the world in person. </p>
<p>As summer 2022 flights filled with travellers, faint alarm bells were heard about <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-flights-july-august-reductions-1.6506451">the aviation infrastructure’s ability to accommodate operations</a> amid the influx. These alarm bells grew louder when passengers were subjected to long wait times, both at departure and arrival. </p>
<p>Flight delays and cancellations quickly became the norm at major Canadian airports. Toronto Pearson International Airport and Montreal-Trudeau International Airport <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/worst-airports-delays-cancellations-summer-2022/index.html">led the world in flight disruptions</a> during the peak summer months.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a suit and tie wearing square glasses looks off-camera as he speaks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508490/original/file-20230206-21-dt35qf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508490/original/file-20230206-21-dt35qf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508490/original/file-20230206-21-dt35qf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508490/original/file-20230206-21-dt35qf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508490/original/file-20230206-21-dt35qf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508490/original/file-20230206-21-dt35qf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508490/original/file-20230206-21-dt35qf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra speaks with reporters before appearing as a witness at a House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in Ottawa in January 2023. The committee is looking into the air passenger protection regulations following travel complications over the holiday season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was no shortage of finger-pointing when it came to laying blame for the cause of the summer chaos. <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/TRAN/meeting-27/evidence">Transport Minister Omar Alghabra stated</a> in August 2022:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In May, all agencies, companies and airports had a massive labour shortage compared with the surge in demand that occurred then. We acted quickly. We were preparing for it, but the surge ended up being beyond what was expected.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s clear the federal government and airlines misjudged the ability of airport infrastructure to handle the sheer volume of air travellers. While the minister may have stated the surge was unexpected, it appears as though <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/21/airlines-temper-flying-ambitions-after-chaotic-travel-rebound.html">airlines knew about passenger volumes</a> but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airline-workers-summer-flight-chaos-is-deepening-tension-with-management-2022-8">didn’t listen to workers</a>.</p>
<h2>Holiday airline chaos</h2>
<p>Fast forward to December 2022. While Mother Nature received the lion’s share of blame for disrupting air services during the winter months, it is once again evident that <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9362160/edmonton-calgary-vancouver-airport-stranded-passengers-delays-cancelled-flights/">neither airports nor airlines were adequately prepared</a>. </p>
<p>While staffing levels were <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-summer-service-1.6553708">touted to have reached pre-pandemic levels</a>, a lack of winter conditions experience and poor operations planning appear to be major contributing factors to the chaos.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sit on the floor and on benches in an airport" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508493/original/file-20230206-13-wepocu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508493/original/file-20230206-13-wepocu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508493/original/file-20230206-13-wepocu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508493/original/file-20230206-13-wepocu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508493/original/file-20230206-13-wepocu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508493/original/file-20230206-13-wepocu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508493/original/file-20230206-13-wepocu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People sit on the floor at Vancouver International Airport after a snowstorm disrupted operations leading to cancellations and major delays, in Richmond, B.C., in December 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Disruption has also been the hallmark of the United States’ last six months, from summer delays to the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2023/01/11/faa-computer-outage-delays-flights/11030719002/">Federal Aviation Administration’s system failure</a> to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/27/business/southwest-airlines-service-meltdown/index.html">Southwest Airlines’ computer system meltdown</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps the current state of commercial aviation can <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/whats-going-on-with-air-travel-today-how-to-fix-it-rcna66501">best be summarized by Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines</a>. When asked about his views of the airline industry in 2023, he said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The system simply can’t handle the volume today, much less the anticipated growth. There are a number of airlines who cannot fly their schedules. The customers are paying the price.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The U.S. Secretary of Transportation has been the focus of media attention for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-southwest-faa.html">his pronouncements on the need for airlines and airports</a> to increase their customer service levels and ensure flight schedules are realistic and operable.</p>
<h2>What to expect in the future</h2>
<p>What might Canadian air travellers expect over the next few months? Some airlines, like <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sunwing-cancels-regina-service-1.6716836">Sunwing</a>, have reduced services to operate a schedule that is more likely to meet customer expectations.</p>
<p>Other carriers remain operating at an aggressive level, looking to maximize their revenue, profit and targets. While the <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/airport-delays-transport-minister-says-feds-not-asking-airlines-to-cut-back-flights-1.5907284">minister of transport has stated</a> he won’t ask airlines to cut back their schedules, air services need to ensure infrastructure and staffing levels are adequate enough to prevent further disruptions.</p>
<p>In contrast to Canada, the U.S. Transportation Department recognizes its role in reviewing unrealistic airline scheduling and <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/3831396-transportation-department-looking-into-whether-unrealistic-scheduling-played-role-in-southwest-holiday-meltdown/">is actively investigating such practices</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The silhouette of a man walks in front of a massive window overlooking an airport tarmac with a WestJet plane sitting on it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508492/original/file-20230206-23-prvko2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508492/original/file-20230206-23-prvko2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508492/original/file-20230206-23-prvko2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508492/original/file-20230206-23-prvko2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508492/original/file-20230206-23-prvko2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508492/original/file-20230206-23-prvko2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508492/original/file-20230206-23-prvko2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">WestJet is one of the airlines that has announced reductions in services to better meet customer expectations for air travel services.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Dealing with disruptions</h2>
<p>Short of increased airline regulation in Canada, how can air travellers deal with the potential for continued disruption? </p>
<p>The Air Passenger Protection Regulations of 2019, <a href="https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/air-passenger-protection-regulations">which were amended in 2022</a>, offer passengers a way to receive compensation for delays, cancellations and other mishandling. However, the realities of processing a claim through the Canadian Transportation Agency are daunting, to say the least.</p>
<p>The Canadian Transportation Agency <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/backlog-of-airline-complaints-balloons-by-6-395-since-december-travel-chaos-canadian-transportation-agency-1.6254745">currently has a backlog of over 36,000 appeals</a> requiring investigation and resolution, meaning complainants are facing wait times of up to 18 months for their appeal to be addressed. </p>
<p>The minister of transport has <a href="https://www.travelweek.ca/news/more-changes-for-air-passenger-protection-regulations-on-the-way-alghabra/">promised a review of the air passenger protection regulations</a> to address enforcement and efficiency. Canada should take inspiration from <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/226409/Case_analysis_on_the_transposition_and_implementation_of_the_Regulation_on_air_passenger_rights_.pdf">the European Union’s approach to mishandling compensation</a>, where the onus is on air carriers to defend their rationale for not paying compensation.</p>
<p>Canadians have great expectations for the actions about to be taken by the minister of transport and the Canadian government. Patience with the air travel system has worn thin and changes are most definitely needed. I, for one, am looking forward to a solution that quells Canadians’ anxiety on air travel.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198853/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Gradek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The chaos at airlines and airports appears to finally be over, but will the relief last? Or will Canadians have to brace themselves for more delays, cancellations and miscommunications?John Gradek, Faculty Lecturer and Program Co-ordinator, Supply Chain, Logistics and Operations Management, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1983772023-01-29T14:22:05Z2023-01-29T14:22:05ZPassengers need more than apologies from airlines after holiday chaos<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506171/original/file-20230124-16-k13r3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C4%2C2977%2C1989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Flight cancellations over the holidays left travellers stranded at airports across North America amid an intense winter storm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A snowball effect initiated in Vancouver <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canada-weather-travel-chaos">created an avalanche of travel chaos</a> over the holidays at a time when many had overcome their <a href="https://theconversation.com/fear-of-travelling-canadians-need-to-put-travel-risk-into-perspective-171193">fear of travelling</a> following the COVID-19 pandemic and thought it was <a href="https://theconversation.com/amid-flight-cancellations-and-airport-chaos-is-it-worth-traveling-right-now-187045">worth travelling again</a>. </p>
<p>A heavy winter storm first affected <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/snowstorm-halts-vancouver-flights-canadas-second-busiest-airport-2022-12-20/">Canada’s second busiest airport</a>, the Vancouver International Airport. Other storms quickly spread across the country with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-23/massive-winter-storm-cancels-holiday-flights-across-canada">a disastrous impact on holiday travel</a>. Many people were stuck in planes, trains and automobiles or were stranded in airports.</p>
<p>This is a stale plot line, reminiscent of the summer of 2022 when thousands of flights were disrupted, leaving customers angry and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2056928835691">earning Canada a bad reputation</a>. Toronto Pearson Airport became the worst airport in the world for delays and cancellations. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVsrZ_RQMs4">It’s easy to blame the weather</a> for the airline chaos, but deeper problems caused this turmoil. </p>
<h2>Weather can’t be the main culprit</h2>
<p>Canadians know the risks associated with winter travelling. As smart consumers, they are aware that weather can always have an impact on travel. But shouldn’t the transportation sector across Canada be able to effectively manage weather-related crises?</p>
<p>The chaos felt by Canadian consumers cannot be blamed on weather alone. After all, <a href="https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canadians-airport-passport-summer-travel-survey">similar signs were seen</a> this past summer.</p>
<p>Most of the travel-related trouble in the summer was linked to a <a href="https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2022/04/04/air-travel-sector-faces-a-labour-shortage-heading-into-a-busy-summer-season/230100/">labour deficit</a> that had been well identified by the sector and signalled earlier. This shortage had been ongoing long before 2020, but the pandemic exacerbated it.</p>
<p>Once travel resumed, the labour crisis became more visible. Government, airports and airlines should have planned with more urgency, especially since they had known about the gravity of <a href="https://www.cbaa-acaa.ca/CBAADocs/Theresa%20Davis-Woodhouse%20Dealing%20with%20Labour%20Shortages%20CBAA%202018.pdf">the situation since 2018</a>. </p>
<p>Following the summer chaos, <a href="https://canadatoday.news/ab/minister-of-transport-confident-of-a-smooth-holiday-flight-season-although-a-large-number-of-passengers-is-expected-52728/">Transport Minister Omar Alghabra felt confident</a> that the trouble was behind us. The recent winter catastrophe proved otherwise.</p>
<h2>Crew shortages</h2>
<p>The airline chaos over the holidays can be attributed to three main problems: labour, disruption management and communication.</p>
<p>Labour remains a major concern for airports and airlines. In January, the <a href="https://www.westernstandard.news/news/transport-minister-alghabra-blames-airlines-for-travel-chaos-says-review-is-underway/article_7ac62c44-9290-11ed-902f-b7914eb7296a.html">CEO and president of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority acknowledged this, saying</a>: “Labour is still very weak across the board of our partners.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A blue and white plane with the 'Sunwing' logo written across the side in orange" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506174/original/file-20230124-26-iga6q1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506174/original/file-20230124-26-iga6q1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506174/original/file-20230124-26-iga6q1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506174/original/file-20230124-26-iga6q1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506174/original/file-20230124-26-iga6q1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506174/original/file-20230124-26-iga6q1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506174/original/file-20230124-26-iga6q1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadian travellers were left stranded in Mexico after the airline cancelled flights over the holidays.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canadian airlines have been <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/1930371/air-canada-westjet-launch-legal-battles-to-overturn-orders-to-compensate-passengers-for-cancelled-flights">delaying and cancelling flights for months due to crew shortages</a>. These staffing issues were magnified over the holiday season with Canadian airlines’ performance being ranked as among the <a href="https://thedeepdive.ca/canadian-airlines-suck-study-reveals-that-air-canada-and-westjet-rank-lowest-in-on-time-performance/">worst in the world</a>.</p>
<p>Sunwing <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/sunwing-travel-holiday-passenger-rights-1.6702144">left travellers stranded in Mexico</a> and cancelled flights because of a lack of pilots — <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-airline-sector-crisis-thousands-of-pilots-lost-their-jobs-during-the/">a problem identified months earlier</a> that could have been dealt with. Hiring foreign pilots would have offset the pilot shortage, but <a href="https://simpleflying.com/sunwings-union-opposes-foreign-crew-plans/">Sunwing’s pilot union opposes</a> the hiring of foreign workers.</p>
<h2>Disruption management</h2>
<p>The second issue is that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cor.2020.105137">disruption management systems</a> used by airlines don’t appear to be the most efficient. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2020.08.021">Disruption management systems</a> are used to “reassign resources (like flights, aircraft and crews) and redistribute passengers to restore the schedule while minimizing costs.” </p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel-logistics-and-infrastructure/our-insights/the-hidden-value-in-airline-operations">inefficiency is expensive</a>, both in dollars and customer satisfaction.</p>
<p>The chaos was caused, in part, by the airlines’ inability to adequately match the availability and flow of aircraft, crew and passengers. This is a complex management problem that can only be resolved with modern technological tools. </p>
<p>Not having the right tools can cripple airlines, as seen recently with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/28/travel/southwest-airlines-flight-cancellations.html">Southwest Airlines</a>. Some travel tech companies, like <a href="https://amadeus.com/documents/en/airlines/other/atc-disruption-14-11.pdf">Amadeus</a>, propose disruption management solutions to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2020.08.021">help airlines recover</a> aircraft, crew and passengers during and after a crisis.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman stands in the middle of a wide hallway filled to the brim with suitcases" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506172/original/file-20230124-1539-hu9lnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506172/original/file-20230124-1539-hu9lnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506172/original/file-20230124-1539-hu9lnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506172/original/file-20230124-1539-hu9lnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506172/original/file-20230124-1539-hu9lnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506172/original/file-20230124-1539-hu9lnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506172/original/file-20230124-1539-hu9lnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Southwest Airlines staff sorts suitcases near the baggage carousel at Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 27, 2022, after Southwest Airlines flights were cancelled and delayed during a winter storm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Communication and passenger rights</h2>
<p>The final and potentially most frustrating problem for consumers was the lack of communication from airlines. A key aspect of crisis management is <a href="https://instituteforpr.org/state-crisis-communication-evidence-bleeding-edge/">communicating effectively and ethically</a> with consumers.</p>
<p>Travellers were left stranded and powerless with little information on possible solutions from airlines. There are passenger rights in Canada, but do Canadians know their rights? And are these rights being respected by governments and airlines?</p>
<p>According to the 2019 <a href="https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/air-passenger-protection-regulations-highlights">Air Passenger Protection Regulations</a>, passengers must be informed of their rights in a timely, clear and accessible way. Airlines must provide passengers with information for flight delays or cancellations, denial of boarding, and lost or damaged baggage. </p>
<p>As of September 2022, airlines “flying to, from and within Canada <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sandramacgregor/2022/09/10/what-you-need-to-know-about-canadas-new-refund-rules-for-flights/">must now issue</a> a full refund for flight cancellations and delays if passengers can’t be accommodated on a new flight within 48 hours.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1613608153970794497"}"></div></p>
<p>However, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9117539/canada-new-air-travel-regulations/">airlines use loopholes</a>, invoking “safety reasons” <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/1930371/air-canada-westjet-launch-legal-battles-to-overturn-orders-to-compensate-passengers-for-cancelled-flights">to avoid paying</a> fines and compensation to travellers.</p>
<p>Clearly, current regulations are not enough to protect travellers, and airlines are not fined by the Canadian Transportation Agency <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9404470/travel-delays-canada-transport-committee/">for failing to provide compensation</a> under the legislation.</p>
<p>The Canadian government seems to agree with this assessment. On Jan. 24, Alghabra said <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/air-passenger-bill-of-rights-reform-1.6724088">the government is planning to overhaul the air passenger bill of rights</a> this coming spring. Changes will include regulatory reform and potentially new legislation.</p>
<h2>Industry should be better prepared</h2>
<p>Canadians are used to hearing “I’m sorry.” But after the transportation crisis this past holiday season, apologies from some major airlines, airports and government officials are not enough. <a href="https://airlineweekly.com/2022/06/air-canada-offers-rare-apology-for-disruptions-cuts-15-percent-of-summer-flights/">They’ve heard it before</a>. It’s time to protect passengers from travel companies.</p>
<p>The federal government, airports and airlines have a joint responsibility to improve operations, manage the labour gap and address better customer protection before another blizzard can be used as an excuse. </p>
<p>Indeed, airlines are now asking <a href="https://airlinecouncil.ca/january-24-2023-the-hill-times-take-advantage-of-real-opportunities-to-improve-the-airline-passenger-protection-regulations/">to share responsibilities with other stakeholders</a> such as airports, air controllers, security and screening personnel, or the Canada Border Services Agency.</p>
<p>The storm exposed a lack of operational preparedness and a failure to put in place effective disruption management systems. Today, passengers know that apologies from government, airports and airlines are not acceptable answers for major travel disruptions. We all deserve better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198377/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After the transportation crisis this past holiday season, apologies from major airlines, airports and government officials are not enough. It’s time to protect passengers from travel companies.Frédéric Dimanche, Professor and Director, Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityKelley A. McClinchey, Teaching Faculty, Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1977542023-01-12T21:13:47Z2023-01-12T21:13:47ZWhat is the FAA’s NOTAM? An aviation expert explains how the critical safety system works<p><em>Late in the evening of Jan. 10, 2023, an important digital system known as NOTAM run by the Federal Aviation Administration <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/11/1148340708/faa-notam-ground-stop-flight-delay">went offline</a>. The FAA was able to continue getting necessary information to pilots overnight using a phone-based backup, but the stopgap couldn’t keep up with the morning rush of flights, and on Jan. 11, 2022, the FAA grounded all commercial flights in the U.S. In total, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/11/1148340708/faa-notam-ground-stop-flight-delay">nearly 7,000 flights</a> were canceled. <a href="https://aviation.osu.edu/people/strzempkowski.1">Brian Strzempkowksi</a> is the interim director of the Center for Aviation Studies at The Ohio State University and a commercial pilot, flight instructor and dispatcher. He explains what the NOTAM system is and why planes can’t fly if the system goes down.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A number of planes line up for takeoff on a runway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilots must check the NOTAM system before takeoff so that they know about any situations that may affect safety.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:6_planes_in_one_photo!_United_Airlines_Boeing_787,_747,_777,_WOW_Airbus_A330_takeoff,_SWA_737,_United_CRJ_landing_SFO_runway_28_L_and_R_(30480576501).jpg#/media/File:6_planes_in_one_photo!_United_Airlines_Boeing_787,_747,_777,_WOW_Airbus_A330_takeoff,_SWA_737,_United_CRJ_landing_SFO_runway_28_L_and_R_(30480576501).jpg">Bill Abbott/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is NOTAM?</h2>
<p>Aviation is full of acronyms, and Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, is one acronym that pilots learn early on in their training. A NOTAM is quite simply a message that is disseminated to flight crews of every aircraft in the U.S.</p>
<p>The NOTAM system is a computer network run by the Federal Aviation Administration that provides real-time updates to crews about situations relating to weather, infrastructure, ground conditions or anything else that may <a href="https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/03_phak_ch1.pdf">affect the safety of flight</a>. Trained professionals – like air traffic controllers, airport managers, airport operations personnel and FAA personnel in charge of national airspace infrastructure – can access the system and enter any information they need to share broadly.</p>
<p>Pilots, air traffic controllers and anyone else who needs to know about flying conditions can access the NOTAM system and make appropriate changes to planned flights. It’s similar to checking the traffic on your phone or on the local news before you head to work in the morning. A traffic report will inform you of potential hazards or backups on the roadways that may lead you take a different route to work.</p>
<h2>What’s in the NOTAM system and how is it used?</h2>
<p>NOTAMs are issued for a wide range of reasons. Some of the notices are good to know but don’t affect a flight – such as personnel mowing grass alongside a runway or a crane working on a building next to the airport. Others are more critical, such as a runway being closed because of snow, ice or damage, forcing a plane to take off or land on a different runway. Changes in access to airspace are also logged with a NOTAM. For example, airspace is always closed above the president and when he or she travels; a NOTAM will alert pilots to changes in airspace closures.</p>
<p>Pilots <a href="https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov/PilotWeb/">review these NOTAMs</a> during their preflight briefings. Generally this is done digitally using a computer, but pilots and air traffic controllers can also access the system by calling flight service briefers, who can share <a href="https://www.1800wxbrief.com/Website/home;jsessionid=624B2EEA87E48B2E1DF67CB0B791E054?desktop=true#!/phone-numbers-quick-steps">live weather and NOTAM information</a>. Airline pilots also rely on their dispatchers to relay any relevant NOTAMs not only before but also during the flight. </p>
<p>The NOTAMs themselves use a lot of abbreviations and are often cryptic to nonaviation folks, but a small amount of text <a href="https://www.notams.faa.gov/downloads/contractions.pdf">can carry a lot of information</a>. Hundreds of different acronyms can convey a range of information, from taxiway closures to certain types of airport lighting being out of service to a notice that some pavement markings may be obscured.</p>
<p>But not all NOTAMs are straightforward. I remember once seeing a notice from an airport alerting pilots that a fire department was conducting a controlled burn of a house nearby.</p>
<h2>Why can’t you fly if the NOTAM system is down?</h2>
<p>The Federal Aviation Authority requires flight crews to <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-F/part-91/subpart-B/subject-group-ECFRe4c59b5f5506932/section-91.103">review NOTAMs before every flight</a> for safety reasons. Without access to this information, a plane cannot legally depart, because there may be an unknown hazard ahead. </p>
<p>As an example, a pilot departing Seattle to fly to Miami would need to know that the Miami airport is open, that the runways are clear and that all the navigational sources – like GPS signals and ground-based navigation antennas – that a pilot may use while in the air are working. Theoretically, they could call the Miami airport and ask, and then call the person who oversees every navigational aid on their route, but that would take a lot of time. A much more efficient way to gather this information before and during a flight is to use the NOTAM system. </p>
<p>At the end of the day, the NOTAM system is about safety. When the system is down, pilots can’t fly as safely. It is for good reason that planes don’t go anywhere unless the NOTAM system is up and running.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Strzempkowski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Notices to Air Mission system failed on Jan. 10, 2023, leading to thousands of canceled flights. The system is where all important safety information for pilots and dispatchers gets posted.Brian Strzempkowski, Interim Director, Center for Aviation Studies, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1870452022-08-09T16:16:51Z2022-08-09T16:16:51ZAmid flight cancellations and airport chaos, is it worth traveling right now?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477250/original/file-20220802-15851-jjf1il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5400%2C3589&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The key to a successful trip is to properly plan for it.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(JeShoots/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/amid-flight-cancellations-and-airport-chaos--is-it-worth-traveling-right-now" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>We all realized the importance of the COVID-19 pandemic when we were asked by the government to <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/03/16/prime-minister-announces-new-actions-under-canadas-covid-19-response">stay home</a> in Winter 2020. </p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-travel-international-covid-advisory-1.6220428">Canadians were given the green light to travel again</a>, the government and media instilled <a href="https://theconversation.com/fear-of-travelling-canadians-need-to-put-travel-risk-into-perspective-171193">a fear of travelling</a> and many chose not to. </p>
<p>Although <a href="https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/99225">we’re not out of the pandemic yet</a>, when it comes to restrictions, things are looking better. Take the EU for example: Restrictions have <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/28/europes-travel-rules-are-dropping-as-fast-as-its-covid-cases-.html">been dropped</a>, and as a result, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.18111/wtobarometereng.2022.20.1.3">international trips increased 182 per cent from 2021 to 2022</a> for the first three months of the year. </p>
<p>And while some are still preferring <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/canada-travel-summer-muir-halifax-hotel-vrbo-vacation-rental-banff-niagara-whistler-153800575.html?">to stay at home or avoiding international air travel</a>, many are eager to fly, but are confronted with <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/travel-chaos-flight-cancellations-2022/index.html">difficult travel conditions</a>: Flights are delayed or cancelled, people are waiting in line for hours at airports and missing their flights, luggage is being lost and emotions are high. </p>
<p>So, is it worth travelling right now?</p>
<h2>Revenge travel and a labour crisis</h2>
<p>On one hand, the good news is many people have overcome <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104261">their fear of travelling</a> amid the pandemic. They long for a time when they could visit other places, or see friends and family they’ve missed these past 30 months. </p>
<p><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/revenge-travel-explainer/index.html">Revenge travel</a> — a term coined to define people’s need to travel after being deprived of it — and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2021.2006858">nostalgia for travelling</a> are fuelling people’s return to travel. And Europe is a top destination. </p>
<p>Compared to 2021, Europe <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.18111/wtobarometereng.2022.20.1.3">welcomed almost four times as many</a> international travellers during the first three months of the year, while the U.S. welcomed more than twice as many. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mountain with homes embedded along the side is pictured by the sea" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477253/original/file-20220802-11-14sdbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477253/original/file-20220802-11-14sdbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477253/original/file-20220802-11-14sdbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477253/original/file-20220802-11-14sdbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477253/original/file-20220802-11-14sdbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477253/original/file-20220802-11-14sdbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477253/original/file-20220802-11-14sdbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Europe is a top travel destination right now. Pictured: Portofino, Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kristine Tanne/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/europes-summer-discontent-reveals-travel-sector-labour-crisis-2022-06-19/">travel rebound has met a labour crisis</a>: Employers are struggling to hire qualified people after many left due to pandemic unemployment. The result? Travel chaos.</p>
<p>From lost luggage to missed connections and cancelled flights, airports are struggling. In particular, Toronto Pearson airport has received <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/toronto-pearson-airport-delays-1.6534360">poor publicity</a> the past several weeks and been ranked “<a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/27865/worst-offending-airports-for-delays/">worst in the world</a>” for the number of delayed flights (over 50 per cent of all flights) from the end of May until July 19.</p>
<p>Is it going to be fixed anytime soon? Probably not. But airports like <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-pearson-seeing-measurable-improvements-following-weeks-of-delays-1.6015470">Pearson say they are seeing improvements</a>. In the meantime, it’s a safe bet for travellers to get accustomed to paying more for lower quality services.</p>
<h2>Plenty of health benefits</h2>
<p>But it is still worth travelling. We know how important travel is: We travel to reconnect with friends and family, to escape our normal lifestyles, to discover other landscapes and cultures. And taking vacations is actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0047287513496477">good for your health and wellness</a>, even when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1434">it’s a short trip</a>! </p>
<p>Travelling <a href="https://travelhub.wttc.org/blog/9-reasons-travel-is-good-for-your-mental-health">has health benefits</a>, like recovering from mental and physical fatigue, improving household relationships and making people happier. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-004-5012-3">Researchers</a> have shown that satisfaction with leisure travel is positively connected to quality of life. And <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taab123">several studies</a> have even shown that international travel restrictions led to unintended negative health and social consequences. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Arco de Triunfo de Barcelona in Spain" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477257/original/file-20220802-11403-gdy0r2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477257/original/file-20220802-11403-gdy0r2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477257/original/file-20220802-11403-gdy0r2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477257/original/file-20220802-11403-gdy0r2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477257/original/file-20220802-11403-gdy0r2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477257/original/file-20220802-11403-gdy0r2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477257/original/file-20220802-11403-gdy0r2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Travelling has many health benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Toa Heftiba/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While travel for vacation is recommended, beware: According to air travel specialists, <a href="https://theconversation.com/coming-changes-to-the-canadian-airline-industry-could-lead-to-even-more-disruption-187425?">more disruptions</a> are in the cards and <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/air-travel-chaos-more-to-come/index.html">more air travel chaos is on its way</a>. The labour issues that are the main reason for the disruptions are unlikely to disappear anytime soon and will continue to affect all tourism sectors, from transportation to hospitality and attractions. </p>
<p>While travellers should not feel discouraged as the benefits outweigh the costs, it may be time to consider alternative, less environmentally damaging forms of travel: closer to home, without flying and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19407963.2022.2100410">favouring domestic tourism as a substitute to international tourism</a>. </p>
<p>The key to a successful trip is to properly plan for it, consider any alternatives that may be needed and be diligent about checking and double checking travel regulations and restrictions — even while on your trip, as they may change. </p>
<p>Make sure you have digital copies of all relevant documents (like your passport, prescriptions and vaccination records) and pack at least a couple of days of clothes in your carry-on (or don’t check a bag at all). Also remember to be respectful of the people and countries you visit (wearing a mask, for example, may be encouraged or required in some countries or public places).</p>
<p>Finally, bring some patience, flexibility and a willingness for adventure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187045/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Travelling has many health benefits, like recovering from mental and physical fatigue, improving household relationships and making people happier.Frédéric Dimanche, Professor and Director, Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityWayne Smith, Professor, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1876022022-07-26T06:53:16Z2022-07-26T06:53:16ZYes, wash your shoes at the airport – but we can do more to stop foot-and-mouth disease ravaging Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476008/original/file-20220726-18-bw5j7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5506%2C3670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Passengers arriving in Australia from Indonesia will be <a href="https://minister.agriculture.gov.au/watt/media-releases/new-stronger-biosecurity-powers-international-airports">directed</a> to wash their shoes after the federal government ramped up efforts to prevent foot-and-mouth disease entering the country. </p>
<p>But effective biosecurity involves more than just what happens at the airport. Australia operates one of the <a href="https://cebra.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/3535013/CEBRA_Value_Docs_KeyResultSummary_v0.6_Endorsed.pdf">most comprehensive</a> biosecurity systems in the world, however, there’s more we can do.</p>
<p>Biosecurity is also not just an agricultural issue. It’s essential to protecting human health, societies and the environment. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, good biosecurity <a href="https://cebra.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/3535013/CEBRA_Value_Docs_KeyResultSummary_v0.6_Endorsed.pdf">doesn’t come cheap</a>. Adequate <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/policy/partnerships/nbc/intergovernmental-agreement-on-biosecurity/igabreview/igab-final-report">funding</a> is vital. That includes ensuring those who cause the problems contribute to fixing them – something that doesn’t happen now.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="cow behind a gate bearing a stop sign" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476007/original/file-20220726-20-y9sdrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476007/original/file-20220726-20-y9sdrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476007/original/file-20220726-20-y9sdrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476007/original/file-20220726-20-y9sdrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476007/original/file-20220726-20-y9sdrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476007/original/file-20220726-20-y9sdrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476007/original/file-20220726-20-y9sdrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Good biosecurity doesn’t come cheap.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The foot-and-mouth threat</h2>
<p>Foot-and-mouth disease (unrelated to hand, foot and mouth disease in humans) is a highly contagious <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC387408/">viral infection</a> that affects livestock such as cattle, sheep and pigs. It causes painful blisters on the feet and in the mouth, preventing the animal from eating, drinking or even standing up. </p>
<p>The disease <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-foot-and-mouth-disease-why-farmers-fear-apocalyptic-bonfires-of-burning-carcasses-186741">was detected</a> in mainland Indonesia in May – <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6499730/">40 years</a> since the last outbreak there - before spreading to Bali <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/media-statement-foot-and-mouth-disease-confirmed-in-bali">earlier this month</a>. </p>
<p>Foot-and-mouth disease is <a href="https://www.woah.org/en/disease/foot-and-mouth-disease/">endemic</a> in many countries. But its arrival in Indonesia makes it more likely the disease could reach Australia, given the significant travel and trade between the two nations. </p>
<p>Australia exports <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/products/insights/snapshot-of-australian-agriculture-2022">more than two-thirds</a> of its livestock products. Official estimates put the economic cost of a major outbreak in Australia at <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/biosecurity/biosecurity-economics/fmd-update-of-2013-estimate">A$80 billion</a>.</p>
<p>In the United Kingdom, a 2001 outbreak of the disease <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-11/uk-fmd-outbreak-helping-australia-protect-its-farrmers/101070438">cost</a> the economy around $13 billion and more than 6 million animals were destroyed. </p>
<p>There have been <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/anthony-albanese-refuses-to-close-border-to-indonesia-over-trade-impacts-despite-concerns-over-foot-and-mouth-disease/news-story/1bfe62a6f2e6c22c0887c9f02528352e">calls</a> for Australia to close the border to Indonesia following the current foot-and-mouth outbreak. But <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/25/foot-and-mouth-disease-australia-parcels-china-indonesia-checked-fmd-government-says-border-should-not-shut">farmers say</a> the radical move would not remove the risk entirely and would do more harm than good.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-foot-and-mouth-disease-why-farmers-fear-apocalyptic-bonfires-of-burning-carcasses-186741">What is foot and mouth disease? Why farmers fear 'apocalyptic bonfires of burning carcasses'</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="dead cow lifted above pile of others" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475996/original/file-20220726-14-kfd1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475996/original/file-20220726-14-kfd1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475996/original/file-20220726-14-kfd1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475996/original/file-20220726-14-kfd1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475996/original/file-20220726-14-kfd1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475996/original/file-20220726-14-kfd1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475996/original/file-20220726-14-kfd1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A UK outbreak of the disease left millions of animals dead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gerry Penny/EPA</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Where does shoe-washing come in?</h2>
<p>We can think of biosecurity as a bit like <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.1990.0090">Swiss cheese</a>. Every slice of Swiss cheese has holes. But when the slices are lined up, the block is solid and impenetrable. </p>
<p>Biosecurity, done well, involves figuring out how to line the slices up.</p>
<p>Catching diseases at the border is one slice of the cheese. That’s why the federal government is now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/20/foot-and-mouth-disease-australian-airports-to-step-up-precautions-as-farmers-grow-anxious">directing passengers</a> who’ve flown in from Indonesia to clean their shoes and walk over disinfectant mats at airports.</p>
<p>Travellers will also be asked to declare any contact with farms and livestock. Those with visibly contaminated shoes will be taken to a biosecurity area.</p>
<p>Research has <a href="https://www.aasv.org/shap/issues/v8n4/v8n4p169.html">shown</a> these measures are not always effective. But having said that, it’s good practice to clean your shoes any time you’ve been off the beaten track.</p>
<p>The soles of shoes contain any number of contaminants. In 2008, for example, a <a href="https://nzpps.org/_journal/index.php/nzpp/article/view/4859">survey</a> at Christchurch Airport found bacteria and fungi on 99% and 78% of footwear, respectively. </p>
<p>A good scrub, then a wipe with disinfectant, is usually enough to reduce the contamination to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167587705001479">acceptable levels</a>. Even a rinse with water is <a href="https://nzpps.org/_journal/index.php/nzpp/article/view/6852">better than nothing</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/wearing-shoes-in-the-house-is-just-plain-gross-the-verdict-from-scientists-who-study-indoor-contaminants-177542">Wearing shoes in the house is just plain gross. The verdict from scientists who study indoor contaminants</a>
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<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1551447287641133056"}"></div></p>
<h2>What else can we do?</h2>
<p>Good biosecurity extends far beyond shoe-cleaning. It involves other activities at the border and <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/policy/australia/reports-pubs/nair">within Australia</a>, as well as efforts overseas.</p>
<p>The greatest risk of foot-and-mouth disease entering Australia comes from <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2016.00085/full">meat products</a> from an <a href="https://www.woah.org/en/disease/foot-and-mouth-disease/">affected country</a>. It’s easy to declare these when you arrive in Australia – or better still, don’t bring them in at all.</p>
<p>This is why extra <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/20/foot-and-mouth-disease-australian-airports-to-step-up-precautions-as-farmers-grow-anxious">detector dogs</a> have been stationed at Australia’s airports - to detect unauthorised meat brought into Australia.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1548804279044952064"}"></div></p>
<p>Farmers must practice good <a href="https://www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/toolkit/planner/">biosecurity</a> on their properties, such as maintaining hygiene, keeping records and rigorous monitoring of livestock health.</p>
<p>Preventing the infection at source countries is a highly <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-agricultures-biggest-threat-needs-a-global-approach-16512">cost-effective</a> way to protect Australia from imported diseases.</p>
<p>Labor this month <a href="https://minister.agriculture.gov.au/watt/media-releases/14-million-package-builds-biosecurity-protection">announced</a> $5 million to help Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea combat livestock diseases. It includes personnel and logistic support to distribute vaccines.</p>
<p>However, because these vaccination programs take <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0223518">months to complete</a>, the risk of foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia will remain high for some time.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="man points rod at cow" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475994/original/file-20220726-17-muu4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475994/original/file-20220726-17-muu4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475994/original/file-20220726-17-muu4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475994/original/file-20220726-17-muu4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475994/original/file-20220726-17-muu4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475994/original/file-20220726-17-muu4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475994/original/file-20220726-17-muu4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Livestock vaccination programs take time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Firdia Lisnawati/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where to now</h2>
<p>The threat of foot-and-mouth disease is not new. Australia <a href="https://animalhealthaustralia.com.au/foot-and-mouth-disease/">has detailed</a>, well-rehearsed response plans and arrangements in place. But more is needed.</p>
<p>In 2017, an independent review <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/biosecurity/partnerships/nbc/priorities-for-aus-bio-system.pdf">found</a> budgetary and other constraints were making it hard for Australia to meet its biosecurity commitments.
At the same time, biosecurity risks were increasing. The review said substantial new investment was needed to strengthen the national system. </p>
<p>Currently, the costs of managing and controlling new diseases is borne by those affected by their entry and spread – such as farmers and taxpayers. Those who create the risks – such as importers, vessel owners and travellers – are generally not called on to contribute to response costs. </p>
<p>But this not need be the case. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/risa.13620">Recent research</a> has suggested a solution whereby importers would have to purchase biosecurity risk insurance and premiums would be used fund clean up costs. </p>
<p>Shoring up Australia’s biosecurity requires us all to accept shared responsibility. That means everyone adhering to the rules – and yes, washing your shoes at the airport. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/video-should-australia-close-its-border-to-bali-in-the-fight-against-foot-and-mouth-disease-187527">VIDEO: Should Australia close its border to Bali in the fight against foot and mouth disease?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187602/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Hester works for The Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis (CEBRA). CEBRA receives research funding from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries, as well as the Queensland, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian governments. Susan acknowledges the efforts of Andrew Robinson and Tom Kompas in reviewing this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron Dodd is a Chief Investigator of The Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis (CEBRA), which receives research funding from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), and New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), as well as the Queensland, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian governments.</span></em></p>Effective biosecurity involves more than just what happens at the airport. And it doesn’t come cheap.Susan M Hester, Associate Professor, University of New EnglandAaron Dodd, Research Fellow - Biosecurity, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855622022-07-11T12:30:45Z2022-07-11T12:30:45ZD.B. Cooper, the changing nature of hijackings and the foundation for today’s airport security<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473071/original/file-20220707-16-frr26z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=180%2C212%2C3291%2C2024&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The hijacking of U.S. aircraft – like the three hijacked in 1970 by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – made it impossible for American policymakers to ignore the threat.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/terrorists-blow-up-one-of-three-hijacked-airplanes-after-news-photo/514880334?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Though many Americans may associate airport security with 9/11, it was a wave of hijackings in the late 1960s and early 1970s that laid the foundation <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-entire-generation-of-americans-has-no-idea-how-easy-air-travel-used-to-be-166082">for today’s airport security protocols</a>.</p>
<p>During that period, a hijacking occurred, on average, <a href="https://today.ku.edu/2019/06/10/first-soviet-hijacking-triggers-insights-cold-war-boundaries">once every five days globally</a>. The U.S. dealt with its own spate of mile-high crimes, convincing reluctant government officials and airport executives to adopt the first important airport security protocols. </p>
<p>The subject of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21063148/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">a new Netflix docuseries</a>, hijacker D.B. Cooper emerged as something of a folk hero during this era. While other more violent hijackings might have played a bigger role in prompting early airport security measures, it was the saga of Cooper that captured the imagination of the American public – and helped transform the perception of the overall threat hijackings posed to U.S. air travel and national security. </p>
<h2>Incidents become impossible to ignore</h2>
<p>The first airplane hijacking happened in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/hijacking">1931 in Peru</a>. Armed revolutionaries approached the grounded plane of pilot Byron Richards and demanded that he fly them over Lima so they could drop propaganda leaflets. Richards refused, and a 10-day standoff ensued before he was eventually released.</p>
<p>That remained a somewhat isolated incident until the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_hijackings">late 1940s and 1950s</a>, when several people hijacked airplanes to escape from Eastern Europe to the West. In the context of the Cold War, Western governments granted these hijackers <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/hijacking-and-right-asylum-aerial-piracy-and-international-law-p">political asylum</a>. Importantly, none of the airplanes hijacked were flown by U.S. carriers.</p>
<p>Beginning in the early 1960s, however, hijackers began targeting U.S. airlines. Most of these individuals were <a href="https://www.tsi-mag.com/the-cuban-hijackings-their-significance-and-impact-sixty-years-on/">Cubans</a> living in the U.S. who, for one reason or another, wished to return to their native land and were otherwise blocked due to <a href="https://www.thecubareader.com/blog/the-strange-story-of-the-us-cuba-hijacking-accord">the U.S. embargo</a> against Cuba.</p>
<p>U.S. officials responded by <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/46502">officially and specifically making hijacking a federal crime</a>. Though the new law didn’t stop hijackings altogether, the crime remained relatively rare. When they did occur, they usually didn’t involve much violence.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/15042-take-me-to-cuba-the-skyjacking-craze-of-the-1960s">Officials wanted to downplay hijackings as much as possible</a>, and the best way to do this was to simply give the hijacker what they wanted to avert the loss of life. Above all, airline executives wanted to avoid deterring people from flying, so they resisted the implementation of anxiety-inducing security protocols.</p>
<p>That changed in 1968. On July 23 of that year, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/on-this-day-el-al-flight-426-hijacked-by-pflp-674735">hijacked an El Al flight</a> from Rome to Tel Aviv. Though that 39-day ordeal ended without any loss of life, it ushered in a new era of more violent – often politically motivated – hijackings of international airlines. </p>
<p>From 1968 to 1974, U.S. airlines experienced <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11326472/hijacking-airplanes-egyptair">130 hijackings</a>. Many fell into this new category of politically motivated hijackings, including what has become known as the <a href="https://www.hsdl.org/c/tl/dawsons-field-hijackings/">Dawson’s Field hijackings</a>. In September 1970, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked four aircraft, including three belonging to U.S. carriers, and forced them to land at Dawson’s Field in Libya. No hostage lives were lost, but the hijackers used explosives to destroy all four aircraft.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Charred tail fin of destroyed plane." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473061/original/file-20220707-10739-9fzsly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473061/original/file-20220707-10739-9fzsly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473061/original/file-20220707-10739-9fzsly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473061/original/file-20220707-10739-9fzsly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473061/original/file-20220707-10739-9fzsly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473061/original/file-20220707-10739-9fzsly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473061/original/file-20220707-10739-9fzsly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Remains of a Pan Am plane that Palestinian hijackers blew up at Dawson’s Field in Libya in 1970.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photo-dated-07-september-1970-of-the-debris-left-over-from-news-photo/97635079?adppopup=true">AFP/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Additionally, and more worrying to U.S. officials, two different groups of hijackers, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-23-mn-48746-story.html">one in 1971</a> and <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/06/06/detroit-skyjacker-airplane-explanation/85314438/">another in 1972</a>, threatened to crash planes into nuclear power plants. </p>
<h2>Cooper inspires copycats</h2>
<p>Amid this dramatic rise in the number of hijackings, on Nov. 24, 1971, a man known to the American public as <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/db-cooper-hijacking">D.B. Cooper</a> boarded a Northwest Orient 727 flight from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle. Shortly after takeoff, he showed a stewardess the contents of his briefcase, which he said was a bomb. He then instructed the stewardess to take a note to the cockpit. In it, he demanded US$200,000 in $20 bills and four parachutes. </p>
<p>Upon arrival in Seattle, Cooper allowed the other passengers to deplane in exchange for the money and the parachutes. Cooper then ordered the pilot to fly to Mexico but low and slowly – <a href="https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/db-cooper">no higher than 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and under 200 knots (230 mph, 370 kph)</a>. Somewhere between Seattle and a fuel stop in Reno, Nevada, Cooper and the loot disappeared out the back of the aircraft via the 727’s <a href="https://saverocity.com/taggingmiles/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2016/07/727-Aft-Stairs.jpg">aft stairwell</a>. No one knows for sure what happened to him, though some of the money was recovered in 1980.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Decomposed bills arranged in a grid." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473058/original/file-20220707-16-ucwl40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473058/original/file-20220707-16-ucwl40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473058/original/file-20220707-16-ucwl40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473058/original/file-20220707-16-ucwl40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473058/original/file-20220707-16-ucwl40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473058/original/file-20220707-16-ucwl40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473058/original/file-20220707-16-ucwl40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The serial numbers on these $20 bills found in 1980 matched those given to Cooper in 1971.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-badly-decomposed-20-dollar-bills-were-shown-to-newsmen-news-photo/515123698?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Cooper wasn’t the first person to hijack an American airliner and demand money. That dubious honor belongs to <a href="https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,909374,00.html">Arthur Barkley</a>. Frustrated with his inability to get government officials to take seriously his dispute with the IRS, on June 4, 1970, Barkley hijacked a TWA aircraft, demanding $100 million and a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. Barkley’s efforts failed, and he ended up confined to a mental institution. </p>
<p>The idea that Cooper might have succeeded, however, clearly inspired several imitators. While it remains uncertain whether Cooper lived to enjoy the fruits of his escapade, none of his imitators did. They included <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/richard-floyd-mccoy-jr">Richard McCoy, Jr.</a>, <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_1aac5de6-6eb4-5245-a126-7adf324d5eb2.html">Martin J. McNally</a> and <a href="https://www.wfmz.com/features/historys-headlines/historys-headlines-skyjack-of-1972/article_940d5703-8e18-528b-80c4-443b3607b6b0.html">Frederick Hahneman</a>, all of whom successfully parachuted out of the aircraft once they received their ransom payments, only to be eventually caught and punished.</p>
<h2>Tightening the screws</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Man in suit walks with arms and legs handcuffed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473067/original/file-20220707-14-z1nker.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473067/original/file-20220707-14-z1nker.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473067/original/file-20220707-14-z1nker.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473067/original/file-20220707-14-z1nker.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473067/original/file-20220707-14-z1nker.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473067/original/file-20220707-14-z1nker.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473067/original/file-20220707-14-z1nker.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Four months after D.B. Cooper’s daring extortion, Richard McCoy, Jr. hijacked a plane, received $500,000 and parachuted out of the aircraft. Two days later, he was apprehended.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/newsmen-try-to-elicit-comment-from-accused-hijacker-richard-news-photo/515402276?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In response to the spate of more violent and costly hijackings, the U.S. government established the <a href="https://www.ibm.com/blogs/systems/a-brief-history-of-airline-security-hijackings-and-metal-detectors/">first anti-hijacking security protocols</a>. Most of them aimed to prevent hijackers from getting on aircraft in the first place. The measures included a hijacker profile, metal detectors and X-ray machines. Specific to Cooper, airlines retrofitted aircraft with a devise known as a <a href="https://www.wikimotors.org/what-is-a-cooper-vane.htm">Cooper vane</a> that made it impossible to open aft stairwells during flight. </p>
<p>The protocols put in place in the 1970s also laid the foundation for the expansive security measures taken after 9/11. A series of court cases upheld the constitutionality of these early measures. For example, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/328/1077/1428246/">United States v. Lopez</a>, decided in 1971, upheld the use of the hijacker profile. </p>
<p>More importantly, in <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/454/769/438142/">United States v. Epperson</a>, a federal court ruled in 1972 that the government’s interest in preventing hijackings justified the requirement for passengers to pass through a magnetometer at the airport. And in 1973, the Ninth Circuit Court, in <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-davis-51">United States v. Davis</a>, declared that the government’s need to protect passengers from hijackings rendered all searches of passengers for weapons and explosives as reasonable and legal. </p>
<p>These rulings upholding early anti-hijacking measures helped create <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/post-9-11-challenges-aviation-security-homeland-security-law-and">the strong legal grounds</a> for the rapid adoption of the more rigorous security protocols – including detailed identification checks, random pat-downs and full body scans – adopted after 9/11. </p>
<p>The mystery surrounding the fate of Cooper may have afforded him an outsized place in American popular culture, but his crime should also be remembered as one in a consequential wave of hijackings that finally forced the U.S. government, airline executives and airport officials to adopt the first versions of the security measures travelers take for granted today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Bednarek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From 1968 to 1974, US airlines experienced 130 hijackings. But it was Cooper’s hijacking-as-extortion plot that captured the public’s imagination – and inspired a copycat crime wave.Janet Bednarek, Professor of History, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1856632022-06-30T18:44:46Z2022-06-30T18:44:46ZAir traffic control funding model ravaged by pandemic as industry struggles to recover<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471233/original/file-20220627-14-u2wv8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C233%2C6000%2C3727&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Airlines experienced their worst year on record in 2020, with passenger numbers down by 60 per cent compared to 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Commercial aviation is critical to the global economy. In 2019, it supported more than <a href="https://www.icao.int/sustainability/Documents/AVIATION-BENEFITS-2019-web.pdf">65 million jobs</a> and had a global economic impact of US$2.7 trillion. The COVID-19 pandemic has been unlike any crisis, both in terms of depth and duration, and damaged the aviation industry more than most sectors. </p>
<p>The global economy contracted by more than three per cent in 2020 — more than enough to cause a severe decline in air transport. The economic downturn was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/business/coronavirus-airline-industry-collapse/">compounded by the closure of international borders and strict quarantine procedures</a> imposed by governments around the world. </p>
<p>As a result, airlines experienced their worst year on record in 2020, with passenger numbers down by <a href="https://www.icao.int/sustainability/Documents/Covid-19/ICAO_coronavirus_Econ_Impact.pdf">60 per cent</a> compared to 2019. The total revenue generated by passengers fell by 69 per cent and net losses were more than <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2021-08-03-01/">US$126 billion</a>. </p>
<p>The collapse in traffic was mirrored in the number of flights handled by air navigation service providers. These service providers are responsible for the safety of flights on departure from and arrival at airports and in transit. In North America, losses exceeded <a href="https://data.icao.int/coVID-19/ansp.htm">US$448 million</a> in 2020. </p>
<p>Our international team, based in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, has spent two years researching the impact of the pandemic and the financing of air navigation services in the airline industry. <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/management/documents/2022%20NAVIGATING%20THE%20COVID19%20CRISIS%20Turnbull%20Thomas%20Harvey%202022.pdf">Our full report found</a> the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted air navigation service providers, and raises concerns about the industry’s current finance model.</p>
<h2>Current airline ‘user-pays’ model</h2>
<p>Air navigation service providers are a public good — just like street lighting — that serves the interests of all. Because of this, it’s not possible to prevent people or clients from using the service. It also means that, when the good or service is consumed, it does not reduce its availability to others. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, as airlines and their passengers are the most direct recipients of air navigation services, many air navigation service providers have adopted a “user-pays” model. The user-pays model is an approach to funding where customers pay the full cost of the good or service they consume.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People walking through an airport" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471230/original/file-20220627-21-g7rvk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471230/original/file-20220627-21-g7rvk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471230/original/file-20220627-21-g7rvk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471230/original/file-20220627-21-g7rvk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471230/original/file-20220627-21-g7rvk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471230/original/file-20220627-21-g7rvk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471230/original/file-20220627-21-g7rvk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The airline industry suffered massive layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the user-pays model of air navigation services charges are typically determined by a <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cost-plus-contract.asp">cost-plus system</a>. The calculation is determined by the air navigation service providers’ costs divided by airline traffic, plus a markup that allows service providers to make a small profit. This model does not reward performance. Otherwise, charges are determined by a pure price cap whereby the regulator sets the price, giving air navigation service providers the incentive to reduce costs.</p>
<p>The purpose of these models is to make air navigation service providers more efficient, but in the absence of competition — service providers are natural monopolies — this system does not work as intended. Some have even pointed to the <a href="http://afgelocal200.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2003-Pitfalls-Of-Air-Traffic-Control-Privatization-Columbia-University.pdf">dangers of air navigation service provider commercialization</a>.</p>
<h2>Labour challenges</h2>
<p>These models have proved inadequate in the face of a crisis, like the one created by the pandemic. Consequently, <a href="https://airlines.iata.org/news/new-figures-highlight-potential-job-losses">staff costs were cut, resulting in job losses</a>, recruitment freezes and a reduction in training. These measures might achieve cost savings in the short term, but they also create a problem for the organization when passengers return and traffic increases. </p>
<p>Many airlines have faced problems in serving returning passengers, leading to the <a href="https://worldfinancialreview.com/covid-19-labour-cost-minimisation-and-its-consequences-in-civil-aviation/">cancellation of flights</a> and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/airport-chaos-european-travel-runs-into-pandemic-cutbacks-1.5959561">chaos at airports</a>, as a direct result of the cuts made in response to the pandemic. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People wait in long lines at an airport" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471231/original/file-20220627-24-xk7tlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471231/original/file-20220627-24-xk7tlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471231/original/file-20220627-24-xk7tlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471231/original/file-20220627-24-xk7tlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471231/original/file-20220627-24-xk7tlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471231/original/file-20220627-24-xk7tlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471231/original/file-20220627-24-xk7tlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Travellers wait in long lines to check in and board flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, on June 21. Airlines have struggled to accommodate the influx of travellers now that COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At several European air navigation service providers, the age profile of the workforce also complicates matters. A considerable number of air traffic control officers are approaching retirement as traffic returns to its pre-pandemic level. </p>
<p>It would be disastrous to both stop recruitment and to reduce headcount in such circumstances, because the training of new air traffic control officers is a long process. In fact, rising traffic delays across Europe prior to the pandemic were attributed to the <a href="https://www.gatco.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GATCO-NATS-TATCs.pdf">declining number of air traffic control officer trainees</a>. </p>
<h2>Problems with ‘user-pays’ model in air navigation</h2>
<p>There is a fundamental problem with the user-pays model of air navigation that is disrupting the industry’s recovery from the current crisis. The problem is this: as the airline industry begins recovering from the pandemic, airlines will be expected to pay more for air navigation services, at a time when they can least afford to.</p>
<p>At the same time, air navigation service providers will be expected to invest more in skills and equipment while trying to recover lost and deferred revenue from their exhausted cash reserves. We need only point to the case of WestJet and NAV CANADA to illustrate this point clearly. </p>
<p>NAV CANADA could have raised its rates by 42 per cent to cover all its financial needs, but WestJet’s CEO described the price hike as “<a href="https://simpleflying.com/westjet-nav-canada-price-hikes">scandalous</a>” and launched an appeal to Canada’s national transport regulator — Canadian Transport Agency. The agency agreed with NAV CANADA, dismissed WestJet’s appeal and prices increased by almost 30 per cent. </p>
<p>The pandemic has demonstrated, beyond doubt, that the user-pays system of air navigation services is neither resilient enough, nor sustainable. Just as a nation’s road network is typically funded by general taxation and road tolls, a similar approach is entirely feasible for air navigation services. General taxation would allow air navigation service providers to fund minimum level of service and staffing levels.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geraint Harvey has received funding from the International Transport Workers' Federation.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Huw Thomas has received funding from the International Transport Workers' Federation and European Transport Workers' Federation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Turnbull's research on air traffic management received financial support from the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). </span></em></p>The COVID-19 pandemic has been unlike any crisis, both in terms of depth and duration, and has damaged the aviation industry more than most sectors.Geraint Harvey, DANCAP Private Equity Chair in Human Organization, Western UniversityHuw Thomas, Lecturer in Work, Employment, Organization & Public Policy, University of BristolPeter Turnbull, Professor of Management, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1857502022-06-26T12:11:54Z2022-06-26T12:11:54ZAir Canada flight reductions: FAQs about the chaos in the airline industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471893/original/file-20220630-26-ydiymv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C269%2C5583%2C3750&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A passenger looks for his luggage among a pile of unclaimed baggage at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport in Montreal, on June 29. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>People around the world are anxious to travel again as pandemic restrictions are being lifted. But those planning to jump on a plane for a vacation have been frustrated by chaos in the airline industry. In both North America and Europe, thousands of flights have been cancelled and hundreds of thousands of passengers have had their trips disrupted. </p>
<p>Things will get worse before they get better. Air Canada has announced it will eliminate more than 150 daily flights for July and August. “Regrettably, things are not business as usual in our industry globally, and this is affecting our operations,” Air Canada president Michael Rousseau <a href="https://milled.com/air-canada/a-message-from-air-canadas-president-gQLU1OsSJMb4j5Fl">said in an email to customers when announcing the flight cutbacks</a>. </p>
<p>So why is this happening? Here are answers to some key questions about the current problems with air travel.</p>
<h2>Why are so many flights being cancelled or delayed?</h2>
<p>The principal cause of the disruptions has been a shortage of qualified personnel at airports to handle the recent surge in passenger traffic. </p>
<p>Airlines have been taking advantage of recent demand for air travel by returning aircraft and flight schedules to close to <a href="https://www.aviationpros.com/airlines/news/21271750/air-passengers-to-reach-83-of-2019-levels-this-year-iata">80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels</a>, with the resulting volume of flights putting significant stress on the capability of the supporting infrastructure — <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/06/easyjet-to-scrap-more-summer-flights-from-schiphol-klm-limits-sales/">airports, air traffic control and labour conditions</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470792/original/file-20220624-26-1uu9fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The graph shows a major dip in 2020 and a steady climb since 2021" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470792/original/file-20220624-26-1uu9fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470792/original/file-20220624-26-1uu9fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470792/original/file-20220624-26-1uu9fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470792/original/file-20220624-26-1uu9fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470792/original/file-20220624-26-1uu9fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470792/original/file-20220624-26-1uu9fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470792/original/file-20220624-26-1uu9fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Air travel, as measured by the number of kilometres travelled by paying passengers, has started to rebound as pandemic restrictions have been lifted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(International Air Transport Association)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Are the problems only happening in certain airports or is this a worldwide issue?</h2>
<p>The congestion phenomenon in the summer 2022 travel season is rapidly spreading across a number of European and North American airports. The reason behind this concentration of congestion is quite simple: these are the air travel markets that have experienced the highest volumes of air travellers in recent months.</p>
<p>The rapid elimination of COVID-19 protocols in these markets since March have generated a significant increase in the demand for air travel, with volumes of passengers that haven’t been seen in more than two years. This increase in volume has been highly evidenced in major airline hub airports such as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/schiphol-airport-amsterdam-photos-security-staff-shortages-europe-flight-2022-6">Amsterdam</a>, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/airport-chaos-european-travel-runs-into-pandemic-cutbacks-1.5959561">London</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/19/us-travelers-flight-cancellations-chaos">New York</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/video/8905320/frustrations-mount-over-ongoing-delays-at-toronto-pearson-airport">Toronto</a>, where tens of thousands of passengers are processed every day.</p>
<h2>Are all the problems related to the pandemic?</h2>
<p>When the global air travel market collapsed in March 2020 with the introduction of travel restrictions and border closures, the commercial aviation industry took steps to conserve cash and maintain a minimal workforce. </p>
<p>Hundreds of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/02/01/airlines-lost-over-40000-workers-united-airlines-announced-another-14000-jobs-may-be-lost/?sh=6fa3ff1324b3">thousands of aviation workers were laid off or terminated</a>, with years of experience and technical expertise removed from the ranks of the commercial aviation communities. </p>
<p>With the assistance of governments throughout the world, over US$200 billion of financial support was provided by governments to help the commercial aviation industry maintain minimal service and prevent financial collapse. </p>
<p>When demand for air travel returned this March, the hiring frenzy began, but in a very different labour environment. The people who left in 2020 had, for the most part, moved on to other career opportunities and no longer had much interest in returning to an industry characterized by lower compensation and a higher employment risk. So the staff shortages have their genesis in the pandemic, and will continue to impact employment levels as travel returns.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A line of people waiting behind a railing in an airport" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470657/original/file-20220623-56660-dwxs79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470657/original/file-20220623-56660-dwxs79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470657/original/file-20220623-56660-dwxs79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470657/original/file-20220623-56660-dwxs79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470657/original/file-20220623-56660-dwxs79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470657/original/file-20220623-56660-dwxs79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470657/original/file-20220623-56660-dwxs79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Travelers wait in long lines to check in and board flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, on June 21.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How many more people are travelling these days compared to a year ago – and compared to pre-pandemic levels?</h2>
<p>The International Air Transport Association publishes <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2022-releases/2022-06-09-01/">air travel statistics</a> relating to the volume of air travel throughout various world markets. It has noted that there is a significant difference in the volume of air travel, when compared to both 2021 and pre-pandemic levels. </p>
<p>The air travel market that has demonstrated the highest rebound has been domestic North America — travel for April 2022 has increased more than 280 per cent compared to April 2021 traffic levels, but remains at slightly more than 30 per cent lower than April 2019 levels. </p>
<p>In the Chinese domestic market, continuing pandemic-related travel restrictions and occasional city lockdowns have resulted in <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/iata-repository/publications/economic-reports/air-passenger-monthly-analysis---april-2022/">traffic levels down by close to 80 per cent</a> in April 2022, compared to April 2021 and 2019.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1540670764269023233"}"></div></p>
<h2>What can be done to prevent delays?</h2>
<p>There are a number of perspectives that can be applied to a resolution of the current level of delays.</p>
<p>European authorities have announced <a href="https://nltimes.nl/2022/06/16/schiphol-press-conference-many-flights-will-slashed-limit-passengers-ceo-wont-quit">specific reductions in flights</a>, while the U.S. government is <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/flight-cancellations-surge-buttigieg-demands-airlines-hire-staff-1717188">threatening to impose flight reductions</a> as a means of minimizing flight cancellations. </p>
<p>The Canadian government has facilitated a meeting with the major aviation organizations in Canada to discuss <a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/06/21/transport-minister-airlines-airports-delays/">a concerted and effective resolution </a> and <a href="https://investors.aircanada.com/2022-06-23-Air-Canada-Comments-on-Aviation-Industry-Summit-with-Federal-Transport-Minister">Air Canada announced measures</a> it was intending to implement to ease congestion at both Toronto Pearson and Montreal Trudeau airports. </p>
<p>Canadian government officials have also announced <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/05/25/airport-delays-are-here-to-stay-for-the-long-term-due-to-a-shortage-of-workers-in-airport-security-union-says.html">plans to hire close to 2,000 additional border security and screening personnel</a> to deal with specific congestion issues. Labour groups are not certain that the problems of congestion will be addressed by such actions. </p>
<p>The main issue is the volume of air travellers that are being drawn into the airport environment by the volume of flights operated by the airlines. Airlines have decided to grow their capacity to meet surging air travel demand, but the airport infrastructure is not equipped to handle such volumes. </p>
<p>While such enthusiasm by the airline industry is laudable in times where adequate and experienced staff are available at airports, that is not the case now — and will not be the case for the foreseeable future.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A blurred photo of people walking back and forth in an airport" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470656/original/file-20220623-52339-p46ocy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C7174%2C4754&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470656/original/file-20220623-52339-p46ocy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470656/original/file-20220623-52339-p46ocy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470656/original/file-20220623-52339-p46ocy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470656/original/file-20220623-52339-p46ocy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470656/original/file-20220623-52339-p46ocy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470656/original/file-20220623-52339-p46ocy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Travellers queue at security at Heathrow Airport in London on June 22. People are likely to face travel disruptions until at least September.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How long will this last?</h2>
<p>The summer travel season is in full flight in the northern hemisphere. Additional airline capacity and greater demand for air service by a travel-starved population will continue through at least September. </p>
<p>Unless actions being contemplated by American, European and Canadian carriers results in a reduction of peak loading of aircraft movements across major airline hubs, in North America and Western Europe primarily, the congestion and delays will continue – and possibly worsen. </p>
<p>Relief will most likely come in the fall, as demand for air travel is reduced with the arrival of the school season. Staffing will also reach required levels by the fall, with the arrival of normal commercial air operating conditions. </p>
<p>Other issues that may reduce demand include <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2022/05/13/airfare-inflation-cool-demand-summer/?sh=42ae089032c3">higher airfares due to inflation and higher oil prices</a>, which may impact the survival of some airlines. </p>
<h2>What advice would you give to air travellers over the next few months?</h2>
<p>Airport authorities have been providing <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/travelling-this-summer-toronto-pearson-and-its-airport-partners-offer-travel-advice-for-passengers-822689624.html">guidance to travellers</a> on how best to prepare themselves for summer travel, including tips on how to avoid delays at security checks.</p>
<p>In this coming summer of disruption, I would recommend travellers embark on their air journey with patience, ensure they are well-rested prior to departing for the airport and remember that airline staff are also experiencing stressful moments during their day. </p>
<p>A smile, a thank you and, above all, a caring attitude for fellow travellers and staff is called for. The air travel experience will get better!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185750/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Gradek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What’s behind the chaos at airports across Europe and North America? An airline industry expert explains the problems that have resulted in delays and cancelled flights.John Gradek, Faculty Lecturer and Program Co-ordinator, Supply Chain, Logistics and Operations Management, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1833632022-05-20T00:41:00Z2022-05-20T00:41:00ZCan sniffer dogs really detect COVID almost as well as a PCR test? Turns out they can<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464382/original/file-20220519-26-gkluh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C2%2C1914%2C1273&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/N04FIfHhv_k">Victor Grabarczyk/unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dogs have an exceptional sense of smell. We take advantage of this ability in many ways, including by training them to find illicit drugs, dangerous goods and even people. </p>
<p>In recent years, a dog’s sense of smell has also been used in the medical field. These remarkable animals can be trained to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-scent-of-sickness-5-questions-answered-about-using-dogs-and-mice-and-ferrets-to-detect-disease-151832">sniff out</a> cancer, diabetes, and extraordinarily, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-40721-4">epileptic seizures</a> before they occur.</p>
<p>Early in the pandemic the possibility of using dogs to sniff out COVID was explored in a few countries. And although the results of these early trials surpassed most people’s expectations, many <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-dogs-can-sniff-out-covid-but-not-after-dinner-when-they-need-a-nap-161669">questions remained</a>. These included how well these findings would stand up to more rigorous scientific scrutiny and how well dogs would perform outside the artificial environment of the research laboratory.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-dogs-can-sniff-out-covid-but-not-after-dinner-when-they-need-a-nap-161669">Yes, dogs can sniff out COVID. But not after dinner, when they need a nap</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the past week we have moved closer to answering these questions, with an article published in <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/5/e008024">BMJ Global Health</a>, which found dogs could detect COVID almost as well as PCR tests, in some circumstances.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1526676331735425026"}"></div></p>
<h2>What did the researchers test?</h2>
<p>This article reported the results of two studies. In both studies, four dogs were tested to see how well they detected COVID from skin swabs taken from people with or without COVID (according to the gold-standard test, PCR). </p>
<p>These dogs didn’t just come off the streets; they had already had a significant amount of training in sniffing out drugs, dangerous goods or cancer.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-scent-of-sickness-5-questions-answered-about-using-dogs-and-mice-and-ferrets-to-detect-disease-151832">The scent of sickness: 5 questions answered about using dogs – and mice and ferrets – to detect disease</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The first study</h2>
<p>In the first study, the researchers looked at whether the dogs could identify COVID in the skin swabs of 420 volunteers, 114 of whom had tested positive to COVID by PCR. </p>
<p>The study was rigorous, with various precautions against the results being compromised. This included an elaborate study protocol that involved a number of separate assistants and a dog handler. None of them knew whether the sample was from someone with COVID, so they could not influence the outcome, intentionally or unintentionally.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464205/original/file-20220519-25-h91ovr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="German Shepherd dogs with trainers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464205/original/file-20220519-25-h91ovr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464205/original/file-20220519-25-h91ovr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464205/original/file-20220519-25-h91ovr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464205/original/file-20220519-25-h91ovr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464205/original/file-20220519-25-h91ovr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464205/original/file-20220519-25-h91ovr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464205/original/file-20220519-25-h91ovr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Neither the dog handler or assistants knew who had COVID and who didn’t.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/airport-security-workers-two-german-shepherd-1798027411">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The dogs detected COVID with a sensitivity of 92% (which refers to their ability to correctly identify those with infection) and a specificity of 91% (their ability to correctly identify those without infection). </p>
<p>Although there was some variation between dogs, they all performed exceptionally well. There are no significant disclaimers here, this was a great result.</p>
<h2>The second study</h2>
<p>The second study was important as its goal was to see how well the dogs could do in the messiness of the real world. This real-life trial involved the dogs sniffing 303 incoming passengers at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport in Finland. Each passenger also took a PCR test. </p>
<p>The dogs matched the PCR results in 296 out of 303 (98%) of the samples and they correctly identified the swabs as negative in 296 out of 300 (99%) samples.</p>
<p>The important consideration in interpreting this result is this happened during airport screening, a situation where you wouldn’t expect many people to test positive.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464207/original/file-20220519-14-ilb0td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sniffer dog resting on airport baggage carousel" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464207/original/file-20220519-14-ilb0td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464207/original/file-20220519-14-ilb0td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464207/original/file-20220519-14-ilb0td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464207/original/file-20220519-14-ilb0td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464207/original/file-20220519-14-ilb0td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464207/original/file-20220519-14-ilb0td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464207/original/file-20220519-14-ilb0td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sometimes tired doggies just need a bit of a lie down.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drug-detection-dog-airport-view-621943664">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this type of low-prevalence environment, you want dogs to be able to screen passengers with a high “negative predictive value”. That is, you want the dogs to be able to identify people who are not carrying the virus to differentiate them from those who may be carrying it. Then you would carry out confirmatory PCR testing on that last group.</p>
<p>In an environment where the prevalence of COVID is around 1%, such as an airport, the researchers estimated the “negative predictive value” for dogs screening for COVID to be 99.9%. That is, the dogs would be expected to correctly exclude 99.9% of passengers as having COVID. This is another fantastic result.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-cut-your-chance-of-catching-covid-on-a-plane-wear-a-mask-and-avoid-business-class-180333">Want to cut your chance of catching COVID on a plane? Wear a mask and avoid business class</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Low tech and instant</h2>
<p>In a world where we rely on expensive technological solutions, there is something reassuring about finding a low-tech option for screening COVID. </p>
<p>Importantly, however, the study highlights dogs are quick to train for this task and are ideal for screening in high-throughput settings, such as airports, given how accurate they are and the fact they give instant results.</p>
<p>Although nothing should surprise us about our closest friend, another incredible outcome from this study was the suggestion the dogs may have been able to distinguish between the variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. </p>
<p>While other possible explanations cannot be excluded, the performance of the dogs seemed to drop with the emergence of the Alpha variant. This was attributed to the dogs being able to identify a difference between this variant and the wild-type virus on which they were originally trained. </p>
<p>These studies confirm nothing could be further from the truth when we say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-many-new-omicron-sub-variants-like-ba-4-and-ba-5-will-i-be-reinfected-is-the-virus-mutating-faster-182274">Why are there so many new Omicron sub-variants, like BA.4 and BA.5? Will I be reinfected? Is the virus mutating faster?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183363/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hassan Vally does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With the right training, dogs can sniff out more than 90% of COVID cases.Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1653762021-11-06T12:18:31Z2021-11-06T12:18:31ZCongress passes $1T infrastructure bill – but how does the government go about spending that much money?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418131/original/file-20210826-23-i3p4sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6863%2C4578&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The $1 trillion bill was a heavy lift for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (center). Next up: the budget reconciliation bill known as Build Back Better.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-speaks-to-a-reporter-as-she-news-photo/1336194937?adppopup=true">Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. Congress passed an infrastructure bill that funds more than a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-business-broadband-internet-congress-d89d6bb1b39cd9c67ae9fc91f5eb4c0d">trillion dollars in nationwide federal spending</a> on Nov. 5, 2021.</p>
<p>The bill puts <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/08/10/senate-infrastructure-bill-what-is-in-it/">about US$240 billion</a> toward building or rebuilding roads, bridges, public transit, airports and railways. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/breaking-down-the-infrastructure-bills-impact-on-climate-change">More than $150 billion is slated</a> for projects that address climate change, like building electric vehicle charging stations, upgrading energy grids and production to work better with renewables, and making public transit more environmentally sustainable.</p>
<p>There’s funding for cybersecurity, clean water and waste treatment systems, broadband internet connections and more.</p>
<p>The bill is the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/us/politics/infrastructure-bill-passes.html">largest investment in the nation’s infrastructure in decades</a>. </p>
<p>So how does the government go about spending all that money? </p>
<p>Officials are required to follow certain procedures, regulations and guidelines for advertising and gathering bids, reviewing them and then hiring contractors to do the work. This process is called “public procurement.”</p>
<p>What’s interesting to me and my colleagues who study public procurement policy is how this massive influx of spending <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2019.1644654">can be used as</a> an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPM.2019.099553">innovative policy tool</a> to further the government’s social, economic and environmental goals. </p>
<p>Judging from President Joe Biden’s executive orders <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/">prioritizing action on climate change</a> in contracting and procurement and ensuring <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/27/executive-order-on-increasing-the-minimum-wage-for-federal-contractors/">equitable compensation</a> for workers employed by federal government contractors, his administration will encourage the use of the power of procurement to achieve environmental, social and economic policy goals. </p>
<p>To understand how public procurement can be used to improve social equity or speed up climate action, it helps to know the basics of how it works.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418132/original/file-20210826-21-s7v0uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A car drives along a road in need of repair" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418132/original/file-20210826-21-s7v0uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418132/original/file-20210826-21-s7v0uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418132/original/file-20210826-21-s7v0uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418132/original/file-20210826-21-s7v0uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418132/original/file-20210826-21-s7v0uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418132/original/file-20210826-21-s7v0uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418132/original/file-20210826-21-s7v0uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rhode Island consistently ranks as one of the worst states in America for the condition of its infrastructure, with an estimated 24% of its roads in poor condition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/car-drives-along-a-road-in-need-of-repair-on-april-09-2021-news-photo/1311722271?adppopup=true">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How do government officials buy infrastructure?</h2>
<p>The process starts with a formal demand from an agency like the Department of Transportation or Public Works and the selection of the best procedure for awarding the contract for a funded project. </p>
<p><a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA471905.pdf">For several decades, government infrastructure procurement</a> processes have generally taken one of two forms: “design-bid-build” or “design-build.” </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA471905.pdf">design-bid-build option</a>, governments separate the contracts into two tracks – project design and project construction, one following the other. A major advantage of <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA471905.pdf">design-bid-build</a> is that agencies are familiar with this traditional way of building things. The main disadvantage is that it requires a three-way relationship – with the government working with both the designer and the builder, and the designer and builder also working together – that heightens the potential for conflict during the project. And that can sometimes lead to increased costs. </p>
<p>An example of the design-bid-build method is the Virginia Department of Transportation’s <a href="https://www.cormankokosing.com/project/i-95-telegraph-road-interchange-improvements/">I-95/Telegraph Road Interchange project</a>, which involved building 11 new bridges and highway flyover ramps in Alexandria. A professional services firm named Dewberry <a href="https://www.dewberry.com/insights-news/article/2014/03/24/I-95-Telegraph-Road-Interchange-Project-Honored-with-Two-Engineering-Awards">designed the project</a> – winning engineering awards as well as praise for avoiding negative impacts on local residents and businesses – and the separate construction firm <a href="https://www.cormankokosing.com/project/i-95-telegraph-road-interchange-improvements/">was Corman Kokosing</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Express lanes above a busy interstate highway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423934/original/file-20210929-66205-19q6y0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423934/original/file-20210929-66205-19q6y0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423934/original/file-20210929-66205-19q6y0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423934/original/file-20210929-66205-19q6y0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423934/original/file-20210929-66205-19q6y0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423934/original/file-20210929-66205-19q6y0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423934/original/file-20210929-66205-19q6y0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Express lanes built as part of the I-95/Telegraph Road Interchange project in Alexandria, Va.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-of-the-395-southbound-hot-traffic-lanes-express-lane-news-photo/1205773786?adppopup=true">Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA471905.pdf">design-build procurement process</a>, potential contractors bid to do both the design and construction of the infrastructure as a single package. The main advantage of this type of contract is the direct relationship between the contractor and the government. The designer and construction firm work together as a unified project team, which may significantly decrease project completion time. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA471905.pdf">design-build</a> also requires a high level of expertise in drafting design and construction specifications from the government, because decisions need to be made early in the process, and changes may lead to an increase in costs. </p>
<p>An example of the design-build methodology is the <a href="https://dbia.org/project/us-15-over-indian-field-swamp-bridge-replacement-project/">US 15 over Indian Field Swamp Bridge Replacement Project</a> in Dorchester County, South Carolina. </p>
<p>With both of these infrastructure procurement options, the process is typically competitive among contractors, and the government owns, operates, finances and maintains the final bridge, roadway, mass transit line or other asset. </p>
<h2>Public-private partnerships</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/24/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-support-for-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-framework/">Biden administration</a> has also proposed using <a href="https://doi.org/10.2753/PMR1530-9576370407">another common type</a> of procurement for the infrastructure spending – public-private parnerships.</p>
<p>These partnerships <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1313445">divide the costs</a> of designing, building, operating and maintaining a project between a private sector firm and the government over 25 or 30 years before the agreement phases out. The private firm may receive some or all of the revenues the project generates during that time.</p>
<p>Let’s say the infrastructure needed is a new toll road. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.2753/PMR1530-9576370407">government enters into a contract</a> with a private company to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain this new highway for a certain period of time. In exchange, the private company makes back its costs by collecting the revenues from the tolls. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ipd/project_profiles/va_capital_beltway.aspx">The Capital Beltway High Occupancy Toll Lanes</a> project in Fairfax County, Virginia, also called the 495 Express Lanes project, is just such a public-private partnership. The government agency is the Virginia Department of Transportation, and the private partner is a company formed specifically for this project called Capital Beltway Express LLC.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423929/original/file-20210929-66198-obmzf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Traffic on highway next to express lane" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423929/original/file-20210929-66198-obmzf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423929/original/file-20210929-66198-obmzf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423929/original/file-20210929-66198-obmzf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423929/original/file-20210929-66198-obmzf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423929/original/file-20210929-66198-obmzf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423929/original/file-20210929-66198-obmzf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423929/original/file-20210929-66198-obmzf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Capital Beltway High Occupancy Toll Lanes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/there-is-usually-less-traffic-in-the-express-lanes-of-the-news-photo/858536806?adppopup=true">Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Proponents argue that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1313445">public-private partnerships</a> may help the government provide better <a href="https://www.theigc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Strategies-for-effective-procurement-FINAL-Feb2019.pdf">infrastructure without increasing public debt</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Public policy researchers in the Netherlands have also found that by supporting the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2018.1428415">development of trust</a> and commitment between the partners, public-private infrastructure partnerships can lead to better results in many ways, such as effective design solutions, reduced environmental impact, lower costs and better relations with and support from local communities or organizations. </p>
<p>But there are also critics. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2753/PMR1530-9576370407">Policy scholars</a> have noted that these partnerships may not really <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3552389">save governments money</a>. Other scholars have raised concerns that these arrangements cede too much <a href="https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/149401">public control</a> of infrastructure to <a href="https://trid.trb.org/view/889355">the private sector</a>, which may look out <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13876980500209363">more avidly for its own financial interests</a> than those of the public.</p>
<p>By inserting demands into government contracts, the new infrastructure spending could be used to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2004.00099.x">promote fair wages</a>, health care benefits, fair working conditions for people employed by government contractors and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPM.2019.099553">ensure that products are sourced in a sustainable and ethical manner</a>. This approach can also be used to demand <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/09513551211223785">locally</a> produced goods and services, <a href="https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJPM.2019.099553">support</a> for veteran-, minority- and women-owned businesses and spur market <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048733307000741">innovation</a>, <a href="https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJPM.2019.099553">environmentally friendly</a> products and services.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ana Maria Dimand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The government uses a process called public procurement. A professor of public policy explains how the process works and how it is increasingly used to achieve social goals.Ana Maria Dimand, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Boise State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1660822021-09-02T12:23:09Z2021-09-02T12:23:09ZAn entire generation of Americans has no idea how easy air travel used to be<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418911/original/file-20210901-19-1k3wxe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6016%2C3998&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Airplane passengers line up for TSA security screenings at Denver International Airport in 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/airplane-passengers-line-up-for-tsa-security-screenings-at-news-photo/1159430281?adppopup=true">Robert Alexander/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the mid-1990s I traveled between Dayton, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., twice a month during the school year as half of a commuting couple. I could leave Dayton by 5:15 p.m., drive nearly 80 miles to the Columbus airport during rush hour, park my car in the economy lot, and still get to my gate in plenty of time for a 7:30 p.m. departure. </p>
<p>Then 9/11 happened.</p>
<p>The terrorist attacks brought swift and lasting changes to the air travel experience in the United States. And after more than 20 years of ever-more-elaborate airport security protocols, many air travelers have no knowledge of – or only vague memories of – what air travel was like before 9/11. </p>
<p>As someone <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/history/bednarek_janet.php">who has studied the history of airports in the United States</a> – and someone old enough to remember air travel before 9/11 – I find it striking, on the one hand, how reluctant the federal government, the airlines, and airports were to adopt early security measures. </p>
<p>On the other hand, it’s been jarring to watch how abruptly the sprawling <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/transportation-security-overview">Transportation Security Agency system</a> was created – and how quickly American air travelers came to accept those security measures as both normal and seemingly permanent features of all U.S. airports.</p>
<h2>Security Kabuki</h2>
<p>In the early decades of air travel, airport security – beyond basic policing – <a href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2011-09-10-fl-security-then-and-now-20110910-story.html">was essentially nonexistent</a>. Getting on a plane was no different from getting on a bus or train.</p>
<p>But in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a wave of hijackings, terrorist attacks and extortion attempts – the most infamous being that of the man known as <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/db-cooper-hijacking">D.B. Cooper</a>, who commandeered a Boeing 727, demanded US$200,000 and, upon securing the case, dramatically parachuted from the plane, never to be found.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Man with tie, sunglasses and pursed lips." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418912/original/file-20210901-17-5wdgzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418912/original/file-20210901-17-5wdgzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418912/original/file-20210901-17-5wdgzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418912/original/file-20210901-17-5wdgzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418912/original/file-20210901-17-5wdgzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418912/original/file-20210901-17-5wdgzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418912/original/file-20210901-17-5wdgzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sketch of suspected hijacker D.B. Cooper, whose dramatic hijacking prompted calls for enhanced security.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-fbi-released-11-27-this-artists-drawing-of-d-b-cooper-news-photo/515418618?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-jun-12-la-tr-airline-safety-timeline-20110612-story.html">Attacks on U.S. flights usually prompted another new security measure</a>, whether it was the formation of the air marshal program, which placed armed federal agents on U.S. commercial aircraft; the development of a hijacker profile, aimed at identifying people deemed likely to threaten an aircraft; or the screening of all passengers.</p>
<p>By 1973, under the new protocols, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-jun-12-la-tr-airline-safety-timeline-20110612-story.html">air travelers had</a> to pass through a metal detector and have any bags X-rayed to check for weapons or suspicious objects.</p>
<p>For the most part, however, these measures were intended to reassure nervous flyers – <a href="http://www.aviationfacts.eu/uploads/thema/file_en/58f65f0b70726f5be9020000/Security_US_after_9-11_Fact_sheet.pdf">security theater</a> that sought to minimally impede easy passage from check-in to gate. For domestic travel, it was possible to arrive at the airport terminal 20 to 30 minutes before your flight <a href="https://www.cntraveler.com/story/what-airports-were-like-in-1987">and still be able to reach the gate in time to board</a>. Families and friends <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/roadwarriorvoices/2016/03/16/flying-in-the-1980s/81817754/">could easily accompany a traveler</a> to their gate for take-off and meet them at the gate upon their return. </p>
<p>Above all, airlines didn’t want to inconvenience passengers, and airports were <a href="https://www.cntraveler.com/story/what-airports-were-like-in-1987">reluctant to lose the extra revenue</a> from family and friends who might frequent airport restaurants, bars and shops when dropping off or picking up those passengers.</p>
<p>In addition, these security measures, though called for by the Federal Aviation Administration, were the responsibility of not the federal government, but the airlines. And to keep costs down, the airlines tended to contract private companies to conduct security screenings <a href="https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-airport-security-has-changed-since-september-11">that used minimally trained low-paid employees</a>.</p>
<h2>The clampdown</h2>
<p>All that changed with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.</p>
<p>Once the airlines returned to the skies on Sept. 14, 2001, it was immediately apparent that flying was going to be different. Passengers arriving at airports were greeted by armed military personnel, as governors throughout the country <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/11/09/rec.bush.airportsecurity/index.html">had mobilized the National Guard to protect the nation’s airports</a>. They remained on patrol for several months.</p>
<p>Security measures only increased in December 2001, when Richard Reid, the so-called “Shoe Bomber,” attempted to <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/artifact-of-the-month/december-2020-richard-reids-shoes">set off explosives in his shoes</a> on an international flight from Paris to Miami. Taking off your shoes before passing through security quickly became a requirement. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Barefoot woman stands next to her luggage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418919/original/file-20210901-17-1petico.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418919/original/file-20210901-17-1petico.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418919/original/file-20210901-17-1petico.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418919/original/file-20210901-17-1petico.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418919/original/file-20210901-17-1petico.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418919/original/file-20210901-17-1petico.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418919/original/file-20210901-17-1petico.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Removing shoes became one of many added security measures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-feet-of-a-barefoot-traveler-are-seen-with-her-luggage-news-photo/2203634?adppopup=true">Tim Boyle/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then, in 2006, British officials intercepted an attempt to carry liquid explosives aboard a flight, resulting in a ban on all liquids. This was later modified to restricting passengers to liquids of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-jun-12-la-tr-airline-safety-timeline-20110612-story.html">no more than 3.4 ounces</a>. By 2010, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-jun-12-la-tr-airline-safety-timeline-20110612-story.html">the full-body scanner</a> had become a familiar sight at airports throughout the U.S.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/19056/average-and-peak-waiting-time-at-tsa-security-screening/">A 2019 study</a> indicated that the average time to get through security at some of the nation’s busiest airports varied from just over 23 minutes at Newark Liberty to 16.3 minutes at Seattle-Tacoma, but could go as high as 60 minutes and 34 minutes, respectively, at those same two airports during peak times.</p>
<p>These new security measures became the responsibility of the federal government to enforce. In November 2001, Congress created the <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/aviation_and_transportation_security_act_atsa_public_law_107_1771.pdf">Transportation Security Agency</a>, and by the early months of 2002, their employees had become the face of transportation security throughout the United States – at airports as well as railroads, subways and other forms of transportation. </p>
<p>Today, the TSA employs <a href="https://www.tsatestprep.com/tsa-hiring-process/">over 50,000 agents</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<h2>No end in sight</h2>
<p>In the first decade after 9/11, the federal government <a href="https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=102057">spent over $62 billion on airport security</a> in total, as annual spending for the TSA increased from $4.34 billion in 2002 to $7.23 billion in 2011, and <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/dhs_bib_-_web_version_-_final_508.pdf">has only grown since then</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="An arm patch featuring an eagle and an American flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418915/original/file-20210901-23-13606vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418915/original/file-20210901-23-13606vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418915/original/file-20210901-23-13606vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418915/original/file-20210901-23-13606vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418915/original/file-20210901-23-13606vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418915/original/file-20210901-23-13606vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418915/original/file-20210901-23-13606vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Transportation Security Administration was created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/armpatch-for-the-transportation-security-administration-new-news-photo/563534711?adppopup=true">Bryan Chan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In many ways, the post-9/11 scramble by airport officials to address security concerns was similar to the impulse to address public health concerns <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2020/06/18/the-future-of-airport-design-after-covid-19-according-to-an-airport-architect/?sh=5c35c5053919">in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic</a>, when plastic barriers, hand sanitizers and floor markings encouraging social distancing appeared at airports throughout the U.S. </p>
<p>How long the COVID-19 measures will need to stay in place remains to be seen. However, the security measures adopted after 9/11 have proved permanent enough that they have become incorporated into recent airport terminal renovations. </p>
<p>For example, when Reagan National Airport’s new terminal opened in 1997, passengers could move freely between <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/work-moves-forward-on-a-new-concourse-at-reagan-national-airport/2019/12/30/65235d8a-1dd1-11ea-8d58-5ac3600967a1_story.html">the shop- and restaurant-filled National Hall and the gates in Terminals B and C</a>. After 9/11, airport officials placed security checkpoints at the entrances to Terminals B and C, effectively making shops and restaurants no longer accessible to passengers who had passed through security.</p>
<p>Now, <a href="https://www.flyreagan.com/travel-information/construction-project/new-security-checkpoints">the almost-completed $1 billion redesign</a> will move the security checkpoints to a new building constructed above the airport’s roadway and open up access among National Hall, Terminals B and C and a new commuter terminal. </p>
<p>Nearly a generation has passed since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Even those of us old enough to remember air travel before that fateful date have grown accustomed to the new normal. And while passengers today might quite happily mark the eventual end of the COVID-19 public health security measures, they’re far less likely to see a return to pre-9/11 security levels at the airport anytime soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Bednarek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since 9/11, billions have been spent beefing up airport security. Was it worth it?Janet Bednarek, Professor of History, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1656532021-08-11T12:28:08Z2021-08-11T12:28:08ZUS history shows spending on infrastructure doesn’t always end well<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415326/original/file-20210809-15-amxv97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=133%2C347%2C2318%2C1390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Constructing barge canals took a massive investment that didn't pay off.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/47804">New York State Archives</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past two centuries, federal, state and municipal governments across the U.S. have launched wave after wave of infrastructure projects.</p>
<p>They built <a href="https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Ohio_and_Erie_Canal">canals to move freight in the 1830s and 1840s</a>. Governments subsidized railroads in the mid- and late 19th century. They created <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/sanitary-city-urban-infrastructure-in-america-from-colonial-times-to-the-present/oclc/493770520">local sewage and water systems</a> in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/rivers-of-empire-water-aridity-and-the-growth-of-the-american-west-by-donald-worster/oclc/1034713077&referer=brief_results">dams and irrigation systems</a> through much of the 20th century. During World War II, <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/fortress-california-1910-1961-from-warfare-to-welfare/oclc/933733064">massive amounts of public money</a> were spent building and expanding ports, factories, airfields and shipyards. And after the war, highway construction – long a state and local project – <a href="https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/interstate-highway-system">became a federal endeavor</a>.</p>
<p>Many of these projects did not end well. The problem wasn’t that the country didn’t need infrastructure – it did. And the troubles weren’t the result of technical failures: By and large, Americans successfully built what they intended, and much of what they built still stands.</p>
<p>The real problems arose before anyone lifted a shovel of earth or raised a hammer. These problems stem from how hard it is to think ahead, and they are easy to ignore in the face of excitement about new spending, new construction and increased employment.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415473/original/file-20210810-15-1ebsio7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Men and women in business suits sit around a large table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415473/original/file-20210810-15-1ebsio7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415473/original/file-20210810-15-1ebsio7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415473/original/file-20210810-15-1ebsio7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415473/original/file-20210810-15-1ebsio7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415473/original/file-20210810-15-1ebsio7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415473/original/file-20210810-15-1ebsio7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415473/original/file-20210810-15-1ebsio7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Politicians, business executives and labor leaders like to talk about the benefits of infrastructure work – but they often don’t think about the potential detriments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Biden/7aa324fe76ec44bb9826db88f194911e/photo">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The questions about which massive structures to build, and where, are actually very hard to answer. Infrastructure is always about the future: It takes years to construct, and lasts for years beyond that.</p>
<p>The money invested in roads, railroads, airports and dams cannot be repurposed, and what is built requires large future expenditures for upkeep. If the infrastructure isn’t needed, then we throw good money after bad.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415474/original/file-20210810-15-1t7p7mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo of people working to build a railroad." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415474/original/file-20210810-15-1t7p7mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415474/original/file-20210810-15-1t7p7mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415474/original/file-20210810-15-1t7p7mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415474/original/file-20210810-15-1t7p7mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415474/original/file-20210810-15-1t7p7mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415474/original/file-20210810-15-1t7p7mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415474/original/file-20210810-15-1t7p7mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Railroads, like this one built in Georgia in the 1890s, rapidly overtook canals as a means of getting goods and people around the country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/99472418/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Overbuilding</h2>
<p>Obsolescence isn’t the worst of the potential problems that can come from infrastructure spending. Railroads dominated the 19th century, but the U.S. built too many of them, particularly into the lightly populated West. I spent a whole book discussing the many ways in which that work, lauded now as a great success of government funding for private infrastructure, was in fact <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393342376">a costly and wasteful failure</a>. The costs began with the bankruptcies and repeated <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grant-panic/">regional and national economic crises</a> that 19th-century Americans referred to as “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Kk0tAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=%22railroad+depression%22&source=bl&ots=KqfFEUl8fg&sig=ACfU3U3aGlAtFeiq-OOlFHiyS6Om6Keyfw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiS1PSLgafyAhWLF1kFHZY_B-kQ6AF6BAgPEAM#v=onepage&q=%22railroad%20depression%22&f=false">railroad depressions</a>.”</p>
<p>Infrastructure is intended to promote development, and it will. But that can be a problem. There is such a thing as dumb growth, like the development that swamped 19th-century markets with wheat, timber and minerals that they could not absorb. The result was <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/garden-in-the-grasslands-boomer-literature-of-the-central-great-plains/oclc/963431294">numerous business failures</a> and the <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/dust-bowl-the-southern-plains-in-the-1930s/oclc/1110485202">abandonment of whole geographic areas</a> when the economy went bust, as during the Dust Bowl.</p>
<p>The economic damage the overbuilding of railroads yielded paled before the environmental damage wrought by the mining, clear-cutting and large-scale agriculture they encouraged. And this points to another problem.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415486/original/file-20210810-23-1dprtt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map of the United States with railroad routes marked, crisscrossing the country." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415486/original/file-20210810-23-1dprtt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415486/original/file-20210810-23-1dprtt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415486/original/file-20210810-23-1dprtt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415486/original/file-20210810-23-1dprtt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415486/original/file-20210810-23-1dprtt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415486/original/file-20210810-23-1dprtt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415486/original/file-20210810-23-1dprtt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1892 map of railroads across the U.S. shows an interlinked web of routes all over the continent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/98688840">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Delayed costs</h2>
<p>People tend to disregard the long-term costs of the plans they make, particularly if they reap the benefits and others pay the costs. </p>
<p>In the early 20th century, municipal water and sewage projects were great successes. They probably had more to do with <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40067842">reducing disease</a> than medical advances did. They made modern cities livable. </p>
<p>But they inflicted costs on others. Los Angeles became Los Angeles by <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-owens-valley-eminent-domain-20170712-story.html">draining water away from the Owens Valley</a>, draining a lake and reducing farmland to desert. San Francisco became San Francisco by <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/Here-s-where-the-Bay-Area-s-water-actually-comes-16220701.php">flooding the Hetch Hetchy Valley</a>, which naturalist John Muir once called “<a href="https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/a_century_later_the_battle_for_hetch_hetchy_continues">a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite</a>.” The results may have been worth the price, but it is useful to recognize that there was a price – one that continues to be paid.</p>
<p>When launched, new infrastructure seems to be a list of benefits. In the mid-20th century, enthusiasts for hydroelectricity and irrigation saw all sorts of advantages as the government dammed Western rivers and irrigated Western lands. But many of these lands <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/killing-the-colorado/story/arizona-cotton-drought-crisis">needed unreasonable amounts of irrigation</a> to yield the desired crops. <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780809015832">Dams utterly changed the nature of rivers</a> and hurt the iconic species of the Pacific West, particularly salmon. It might have been helpful for builders to have had a little less faith that future technologies would correct the problems they foresaw.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415492/original/file-20210810-25-spl03t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white image of people working to build a large hydroelectric dam" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415492/original/file-20210810-25-spl03t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415492/original/file-20210810-25-spl03t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415492/original/file-20210810-25-spl03t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415492/original/file-20210810-25-spl03t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415492/original/file-20210810-25-spl03t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415492/original/file-20210810-25-spl03t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415492/original/file-20210810-25-spl03t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Building dams, such as the Grand Coulee on the Columbia River in Washington, provided hydroelectric power and irrigation water but damaged the environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2004667708/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps the greatest federal infrastructure system of the late 20th century is the <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/testimony/celebrating-50-years-eisenhower-interstate-highway-system">interstate highway system</a>. It changed the spatial arrangement of the nation and how Americans moved. It capitalized on the American car culture, until the interstates became crowded around cities they maimed and people confronted climate change, to which the cars on those interstates <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-a-future-ban-on-gas-powered-cars-work-an-economist-explains-150590">contribute so significantly</a>.</p>
<p>In promoting infrastructure, politicians will tout jobs, economic growth and a whole array of conveniences and benefits. Citizens should be more sophisticated. </p>
<p>They should ask who – particularly which corporations and developers – are going to benefit from these projects. They should look beyond the price tag to the social and environmental costs. Building canals for a railroad age proved a great mistake. But climate change makes building an infrastructure for a carbon economy a far more dangerous endeavor. </p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165653/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard White does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The lasting problems of infrastructure aren’t of need or construction, but of overbuilding, delayed costs and the challenges of thinking ahead.Richard White, Professor of American History, Stanford UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1654232021-08-04T17:12:06Z2021-08-04T17:12:06ZAirport towns like Luton and Hounslow are suffering as people fly less often – here’s how to help them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414535/original/file-20210804-13-fbfe0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thousands of aircraft were grounded during the pandemic. Now research is showing people might fly less</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">JetKat/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tens of thousands of aircraft have <a href="https://time.com/5823395/grounded-planes-coronavirus-storage/">been grounded</a> for well over a year due to the pandemic. In April 2020 air travel around the world was cut <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/iata-repository/publications/economic-reports/air-passenger-monthly-analysis---apr-20202/">by 94%</a> from April 2019. By June 2021 it was still <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2021-07-28-02/">60% down</a> on June 2019 thanks to holidays being cancelled, work trips shelved, and long-planned journeys to see family and friends moved to another time. </p>
<p>Never has any <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-future-do-airlines-have-three-experts-discuss-135365">global industry collapsed</a> with such speed. In climate terms, this has been a cause for celebration. It has represented a chance for reducing emissions that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231020305689">contribute significantly</a> to climate change and <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.0c01859">pollute our air</a>. </p>
<p>Some people who live close to an airport may also have welcomed the drop in noise. But many others will be worrying about the effect the long-term reduction in air travel may have on their community’s economy. </p>
<h2>Will the industry bounce back?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.iata.org/en/iata-repository/publications/economic-reports/Five-years-to-return-to-the-pre-pandemic-level-of-passenger-demand/">Industrial bodies</a> estimate that it might take five years for passenger demand to return to pre-pandemic levels. That’s a <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel-logistics-and-infrastructure/our-insights/back-to-the-future-airline-sector-poised-for-change-post-covid-19">longer expected recovery</a> than any other mode of transport. Globally, an estimated <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/30/business/coronavirus-aviation-jobs-atag/index.html">46 million jobs</a> have been deemed at risk. This isn’t just <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/pilots-unemployed-pandemic-covid-b1794279.html">pilots</a> or <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54552132">cabin crew</a>; it’s also those who <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-54485257">screen your baggage</a> or <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/wetherspoon-pub-closures-jobs-airports-uk-coronavirus-redundancy-b528031.html">make your lunch</a>.</p>
<p>But will the air industry even bounce back in five years? Research our team <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cabot/what-we-do/post-pandemic-aviation/">conducted in early 2021</a> in Bristol, an English city with an airport and a century-old aviation industry, found that <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-nearly-60-vow-to-fly-less-after-getting-coronavirus-vaccination-12283279">close to 60%</a> of those surveyed expect to fly less in the future. Many of our respondents gave climate change and the pandemic as equally important reasons. Other polling has shown that <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/travel/articles-reports/2021/07/07/americans-and-brits-remain-wary-flying">many elsewhere</a> remain wary of flying in the future too. </p>
<p>Businesses may also operate differently. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-climate-flights-idUSKBN2BZ09D">Polling has found</a> that four in ten business travellers are likely to fly less in the future. Business-class seats are an important part of airline income – on some flights corporate travel can represent <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/consumer-markets/library/corporate-travel-collaboration-essential-for-covid-19-recovery.html">75% of revenue</a>. </p>
<p>Setting aside ideas about electric planes for now, it seems obvious that we will need to fly less to move to a zero-carbon economy. <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en/two-thirds-citizens-around-world-agree-climate-change-serious-crisis-coronavirus">Two-thirds of people</a> want a post-pandemic economic recovery to prioritise climate change. This means fewer planes, and fewer jobs for crew and baggage handlers and so on. </p>
<h2>Rebuilding communities</h2>
<p>The decline of older industries such as mining, textiles or pottery resulted in high unemployment in towns which were massively dependent on one of them. We are all familiar with how the closure of a local pit or car plant caused the decline of once vibrant towns, leaving a generation to struggle with unemployment and the need to retrain. </p>
<p>Steel mills were nestled deep in the fabric of nearby communities. Their closure removed the pivot around which lives, work and leisure were based. So with the pandemic, whole communities <a href="https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/news/article/1185/ambitious_plan_to_support_hounslow_published_as_new_data_shows_40_of_borough_workforce_now_unemployed_or_on_furlough">are at risk</a> of a similar economic decline.</p>
<p>In summer 2020 the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56231312">rate of those jobless</a> (be it unemployed or on furlough) was higher in areas near UK airports. In Hounslow (near London Heathrow) this was <a href="https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/news/article/1185/ambitious_plan_to_support_hounslow_published_as_new_data_shows_40_of_borough_workforce_now_unemployed_or_on_furlough">40% of the population</a> – with an estimated £1 billion loss to the borough’s economy. At Gatwick airport in 2020, there were job losses for <a href="https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/19126797.full-scale-job-cuts-gatwick-airport-due-coronavirus/">40% of its workforce</a>, many of whom live in nearby towns such as Crawley.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414540/original/file-20210804-27-2ge5go.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Hounslow in west London" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414540/original/file-20210804-27-2ge5go.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414540/original/file-20210804-27-2ge5go.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414540/original/file-20210804-27-2ge5go.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414540/original/file-20210804-27-2ge5go.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414540/original/file-20210804-27-2ge5go.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414540/original/file-20210804-27-2ge5go.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414540/original/file-20210804-27-2ge5go.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Towns like Hounslow are highly dependent on the nearby airport for employment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BasPhoto/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many towns and communities are economically dependent on nearby airports. Luton Airport is estimated to have sustained over <a href="https://futureluton.llal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Appendix-13-1-Oxford-Economics-LTN-Economic-Impact-June-2019.pdf">27,000 jobs</a> (directly and indirectly) and is a major employer in the region. The decline of the sector has broader effects on subsidiary industries too, such as taxis, maintenance, catering and hotels. </p>
<p>So what is to be done? The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/green-jobs-taskforce">Green Jobs Taskforce</a>, an industry and government initiative set up in 2020 to look at future employment, has called on the UK government to invest in jobs related to wind turbines, electric trains and replacing gas boilers. </p>
<p>Any version of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-to-kickstart-a-green-recovery-141115">green new deal</a> is necessarily a job-heavy economy, with a great deal of work needed to alter the infrastructure that powers our current lifestyle. The UK government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ten-point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolution">Ten Point Plan for Green Industrial Revolution</a> pledges 250,000 green jobs. The political question here is whether politicians and policymakers will be brave enough to resist a bounce back for aviation and invest in a longer term future for these airport towns, to avoid them suffering a decade of decline. </p>
<p>This is likely to see aviation jobs lost, and will require very targeted support for cities or regions reliant on airport employment. To build back better, a green recovery must seek to support these communities and provide them with new opportunities and livelihoods.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165423/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Green jobs are the way to avoid a decade of decline for towns dependent on airport employment.Ed Atkins, Lecturer, School of Geographical Sciences, University of BristolMartin Parker, Professor of Organisation Studies, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1645692021-07-15T14:40:14Z2021-07-15T14:40:14ZHow COVID has affected UK businesses – and what happens after July 19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411465/original/file-20210715-19-1a376wt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Airports are still a long way short of business as usual. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/ABGaVhJxwDQ">Timon Studler/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Britain will be finally free of most of the restrictions placed on it during the pandemic from July 19 (and Northern Ireland from July 26). Armed with the knowledge that <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55274833#:%7E:text=The%20government%20now%20plans%20to,data%20suggests%20they%20are%20needed.">the majority</a> of the adult population has been double-vaccinated, officials are removing almost all legal restrictions on social contact. </p>
<p>What does this mean for business? Is the worst over now? Can everyone go back to managing the successful businesses they were running before the pandemic, generating tax receipts for the hard-pressed Treasury to repay the <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/covid-19/cost-tracker/">£372 billion</a> it has spent on supporting the country through COVID-19?</p>
<p>At the start of the pandemic, business observers, including myself, were <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-your-guide-to-winners-and-losers-in-the-business-world-134205">calling out</a> the sectors that we thought would do well – or badly – as restrictions were imposed. Some sectors didn’t need a crystal ball to make an accurate prediction. </p>
<p>All restaurants, pubs and clubs were closed in 2020, and every music festival and physical conference was cancelled. With the restrictions continuing well into the second half of 2021, it is therefore not surprising that the sectors with the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-1-july-2021">highest furlough rates</a>, as of May 31, were accommodation and food services, with 34% (133,000) of eligible workers furloughed, and also arts, entertainment and recreation, with 29% (41,700) furloughed. </p>
<p>Cash flow, where it could be found, sustained some of these businesses through the tough times. To give just one example, the members’ club Soho House (full disclosure: I am a member) required members to keep paying their subscriptions monthly through the two time periods where it had to shut, but credited the sum to their accounts to be spent when it reopened. </p>
<p>This helped to ensure that 92% of members stayed signed up in 2020. With over 59,000 membership applicants as at May 30 2021, Soho House – holding company now renamed the Membership Collective Group - has come out of the pandemic in sufficiently good shape to be launching its IPO in the US this week, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/52e1cd18-ed12-48c9-a0d1-9174a2882f79">valuing the company</a> at US$2.8 billion (£2 billion).</p>
<h2>Retail and travel woes</h2>
<p>While food retail boomed – and is <a href="https://www.talkingretail.com/news/industry-news/grocery-sales-decline-in-may-as-hospitality-reopens-data-shows-02-06-2021/">seeing the fall-off</a> now that we are all going out to eat again – other retail, especially that anchored on the high street, has been a long story of closures. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55139369">Arcadia</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52938462">Victoria’s Secret</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53242719">TM Lewin</a>, <a href="https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2020/11/jaeger-administration-103-jobs-axed-and-13-stores-shut-down/">Jaeger</a>, <a href="https://www.companyrescue.co.uk/guides-knowledge/news/harveys-furniture-goes-into-administration-4535/">Harveys Furniture</a>, <a href="https://www.consultancy.uk/news/26625/rsm-administrators-complete-sale-of-bonmarche">Bonmarché</a> and many more ended up in administration despite 100% business rate relief and many other government initiatives to help them. </p>
<p>High-street shops and shopping malls had been <a href="https://theconversation.com/retail-decline-in-maps-england-and-wales-lose-43m-square-metres-of-shop-space-107470">having difficulties</a> already, not least because of online competition, and a pandemic was the last thing they needed. In 2020, total retail sales volumes <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/articles/impactofthecoronaviruscovid19pandemiconretailsalesin2020/2021-01-28#:%7E:text=The%20impact%20has%20been%20reflected,severe%20for%20non%2Dessential%20retail.">fell by 1.9%</a> compared with 2019, the largest annual fall on record.</p>
<p>International travel remains a very depressed sector and the July 19 freedoms won’t help much, with the US and many other parts of the world remaining closed to UK nationals. Many flight crew remain on furlough and British Airways, already one of the biggest recipients of furlough monies, started putting staff <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/10/british-airways-puts-thousands-staff-back-furlough/">back on furlough</a> in June as the horizon for the resumption of travel stretched further into the distance. </p>
<p>My local airport, Edinburgh, recorded its <a href="https://corporate.edinburghairport.com/media-centre/news-releases/edinburgh-airport-passenger-numbers-decline-to-lowest-level-since-1995/">lowest number</a> of passengers since 1995 in the last 12 months, and the outlook remains bleak. The airport handled a little under 3.5 million passengers in 2020, a 76% reduction on the previous year. This is estimated to have cost the Scottish economy around £1 billion and over 21,000 jobs. Flights from, to and within the whole of the UK, which in 2019 ranged between 5,000 and 6,500 per day, are currently at just 1,000.</p>
<h2>The winners</h2>
<p>There have been some predictable successes, of course. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-health-coronavirus-technology-business-16a950ba630045281458500081d562e6">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/20/royal-mail-posts-726m-profit-amid-pandemic-demand-for-parcels#:%7E:text=Royal%20Mail's%20annual%20profits%20quadrupled,%C2%A3180m%20a%20year%20earlier.">Royal Mail</a>, <a href="https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/next-hermes/reputation-matters/article/1718515">Hermes</a>, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/497a4c13-8d4a-413c-b6f1-9f09d8aaf00e">DPD</a> – everyone who delivers to the door – have all done well. If you manufacture cardboard in the UK, it <a href="https://orwak.com/news/box-boom-gives-upsurge-in-demand-for-cardboard/">has been</a> a record 12 to 18 months. </p>
<p>But there have also been sectors where things went much better than expected. Debt collection companies, for instance, had anticipated problems from so many people potentially losing their jobs, but instead saw much better collection rates as those who couldn’t go out and spend repaid their debts instead. Arrow Global, the debt collector and alternative asset business which is in the middle of being swallowed up <a href="https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/news/2021/04/07/tdr-capital-finally-hits-the-bullseye-with-arrow-global-offer/">by private equity</a>, has <a href="https://www.arrowglobal.net/en/investors/results-reports-presentations.html">said that</a> in the first quarter of 2021 it collected over 6% more than it had expected.</p>
<p>People stuck at home with more disposable income than usual didn’t just repay their debts – they also noticed that their house needed fixing, which has propelled companies like Howden Joinery <a href="https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/954827/howden-joinery-ups-profit-forecast-to-300mln-as-building-supplies-boom-954827.html">to announce</a> a profit warning – upwards. The company expects a pre-tax profit of £300 million for 2021, up 62% from £185 million in 2020.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, company formation didn’t suffer in 2020 – 772,002 new businesses <a href="https://centreforentrepreneurs.org/cfe-research/business-startup-index/">were formed</a> in the UK, up 13% on 2019. Many were in sectors that benefited from the pandemic, such as manufacturers of personal protective equipment (PPE) or disinfectants, camp sites catering for all the staycationers, and takeaway food companies. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411467/original/file-20210715-25-o5hju9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A pink noticeboard with a Don't Panic message, along with a facemask" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411467/original/file-20210715-25-o5hju9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411467/original/file-20210715-25-o5hju9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411467/original/file-20210715-25-o5hju9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411467/original/file-20210715-25-o5hju9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411467/original/file-20210715-25-o5hju9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411467/original/file-20210715-25-o5hju9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411467/original/file-20210715-25-o5hju9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Company formations have biased towards winning sectors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/hAZ3TNzQP6w">Tonik/Unplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The furlough scheme has also kept unemployment at bay, contrary to predictions. In April 2020, the worst month for economic activity across the whole pandemic period, the government’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published a <a href="https://obr.uk/coronavirus-analysis/">reference scenario</a> where unemployment would peak at 10% in quarter 2 of 2020, falling to 8.5% and 7.0% in quarters 3 and 4. In reality, the highest rate of unemployment in 2020 was <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/employmentintheuk/february2021">5.1% in quarter 4</a>.</p>
<h2>What now?</h2>
<p>So what will happen when restrictions are lifted on Monday? Can we look to summer 2020 as an indicator of the changes that will take place? </p>
<p>In 2020, after restrictions were eased off in June, retail sales as a whole <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06186/">recovered quickly</a> to pre-pandemic levels, while hospitality and entertainment had a much slower or non-existent recovery – despite the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme. In January and February 2021, when non-essential retail shut again, sales were affected again, but the fall was much less significant than early 2020, suggesting that retailers and consumers had adapted to restrictions. </p>
<p>So I don’t predict that July 19 will make very much difference to general retail. However, if you are in a business in live events – music festivals, theatre, conferences, and of the course the great British wedding industry – then July 19 is the date you can finally get going again. </p>
<p>Expect a surge in demand, since unlike last year the limits on gatherings are now going. Combined with the enforced saving that many have done over the last 18 months, this <a href="https://www.immediate.co.uk/hitcheds-annual-national-wedding-survey-reveals-latest-trends-and-truth-about-cost-of-getting-married-in-britain/">may see</a> the average wedding exceed the £31,000 it was estimated to have cost in 2019. </p>
<p>I might be wrong, of course. In March 2020, investment banking industry commentators <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-your-guide-to-winners-and-losers-in-the-business-world-134205">were predicting</a> a drop in fees of up to 50% in the first six months of the year, and thought that hundreds of investment bankers would lose their jobs. </p>
<p><a href="https://mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/refinitiv-deals-intelligence-q1-2021-global-investment-banking-manda-capital/">What really happened</a> was that global investment banking fees during 2020 reached US$127.5 billion - an 18% increase compared to 2019, and the strongest annual period since records began in 2000. In the UK, investment banks raked in a total £4.9 billion in 2020, marking a 3% rise compared to 2019. This was helped by a surge in capital markets activity in the second quarter as companies raced to refinance and shore up liquidity, generating handsome fees for the bankers. </p>
<p>Globally, lenders earned US$42.9 billion underwriting debt in 2020, up 25% compared to the previous high a year earlier. Things have continued in this vein into 2021. During the first quarter, where <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/07/08/2021-ipo-market-charts-data-ipos/#:%7E:text=According%20to%20FactSet%2C%20IPOs%20together,debuts%20like%20Airbnb%20and%20DoorDash.">both IPOs</a> and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/cd9571a3-726c-4995-9954-23a8dcf12b19">private equity bids</a> for public companies have seen record levels, investment banking fees reached US$39.4 billion, the strongest overall quarter on record.</p>
<p>Maybe predictions are not that easy after all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164569/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather McGregor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There have been winners and losers – and not all of them were predictable.Heather McGregor, Executive Dean of Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1630952021-07-06T15:00:28Z2021-07-06T15:00:28ZNigeria doesn’t have a coherent strategy to manage freight: how it can get there<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409649/original/file-20210705-27-12xd6gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigeria needs more than trucks to achieve effective freight management. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google images </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nigeria’s transport network is largely in a state of <a href="https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/moving-forward-two-major-policy-plans-have-shaped-sector%E2%80%99s-growing-infrastructure-and-mid-term">disrepair</a> due to inadequate investment over the decades, economic and population growth, and ineffective policies and plans. </p>
<p>For instance, Tin Can and Apapa ports in Lagos continue to suffer from inadequate cargo handling equipment. This results in <a href="https://doi.org/10.4102/jtscm.v9i1.180">expensive delays</a>. And when goods are eventually cleared, absence of rail connectivity results in them having to be hauled over poor and congested roads to the northern and eastern parts of the country. </p>
<p>These factors often result in accidents, breakdowns and further delays. All are detrimental to the economy.</p>
<p>Such ineffectiveness is in spite of a series of national <a href="https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/GPP/article/view/7011;https://isdsnet.com/ijds-v2n2-5.pdf">transport policies</a>. Reforms were initiated in 2003, 2008 and 2010. These paid some attention to the possibility of intermodalism – ensuring trucked goods are moved on to rail or water, and back to truck for final delivery. These reforms also considered privatisation and public-private partnerships. However, none of these policies and reforms made a significant difference. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1684-19992016000100012">Costs</a> associated with ineffective and inefficient national transportation and logistics systems are well documented. The International Trade Administration, an agency of the US government, citing a survey by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, showed that the Nigerian economy loses an estimated revenue of <a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/nigeria-logistics-sector">N3.46 trillion</a> annually. </p>
<p>Nigeria connects to the global and regional economy through international maritime shipping and air while its internal connections are mostly by road and rail movements. Given this, any freight logistics plan for the country must be seen as part of a global supply chain network.</p>
<p>In my view, the time has come for a serious consideration of an overarching and holistic national freight <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01441647.2016.1182793">logistics strategy</a> for Nigeria for the next few decades.</p>
<p>It would bring together all tiers of government and industry to provide a coordinated, national multi-modal approach to freight planning. And it would address Nigeria’s freight challenges, while supporting its long term international competitiveness.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/25502/">experienced logistics</a> analyst, consultant, scholar and educator in the developing and developed worlds, I have come across a range of relatively effective national <a href="https://www.portsregulator.org/images/documents/National_Freight_Logistics_Strategy.pdf">freight logistics strategies</a> such as those of South Africa, Panama, Vietnam and Thailand. </p>
<p>They provide useful benchmarks for what is possible.</p>
<h2>Why plans haven’t worked</h2>
<p>Firstly, transport traditionally gets constant attention from public authorities. But logistics and supply chain management is often <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01441647.2016.1182793">considered</a> to be a private business-oriented activity. </p>
<p>Public authorities should be paying much closer attention to it, especially in relation to its integration with trade, and the economy. </p>
<p>Secondly, decision makers still take a piecemeal view and approach. This is clear from the fact that there are a number of disparate plans that touch on transport. These include the <a href="https://nesgroup.org/storage/app/public/policies/National-Intergrated-Infractructure-Master-Plan-2015-2043_compressed_1562697068.pdf">Nigeria Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan</a> which was put in place in March 2015 by the National Planning Commission. And then there’s the <a href="https://statehouse.gov.ng/policy/economy/economic-recovery-and-growth-plan/">Economic Recovery and Growth Plan</a> which was approved by the government in 2016 for execution in the period 2017 to 2020. </p>
<p>Similarly, there are several oversight agencies. For example, air transport alone has three – the <a href="https://www.nama.gov.ng/">Nigerian Airspace Management Agency</a>, <a href="https://ncaa.gov.ng/">Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority</a> and the <a href="https://www.faan.gov.ng/">Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria</a> – but none has a freight focus. </p>
<p>A piecemeal approach results in insufficient integration of trade and economic considerations in the design, operation and management of the national transport system. The outcome is poor logistics and supply chain management.</p>
<h2>What the plan needs to cover</h2>
<p>A well-developed <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1785965">freight logistics strategy</a> should be integrated and overarching. It should <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJPDLM-10-2014-0243/full/pdf?title=the-benefits-of-logistics-clustering">facilitate</a> the safe and efficient movement of freight within the country. It would also integrate the country seamlessly within the West African sub-region and beyond.</p>
<p>The plan should address sources of freight generation, commodity flows and associated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-019-09995-5">data-based modelling</a>. It should also cover the transportation and distribution industry and workforce, storage and warehousing location principles, and movement of bulk commodities, containers and general cargo through major ports, airports, inland dry ports, transport corridors and intermodal terminals. </p>
<p>In addition <a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/nigeria-logistics-sector">the plan</a> should cover railroad access, water port access and air cargo access to allow efficient access of bulk freight to support agricultural regions, production clusters, local industries, businesses and consumers. </p>
<p>Lastly, the strategy should address compatibility of data and information standards, platforms and systems. This would ensure smooth interactions between trading partners and carriers, as well as the introduction of modern and productive freight technologies. South Africa, Panama, Thailand and Vietnam are some examples Nigeria can learn from.</p>
<h2>How it can be achieved</h2>
<p>A national freight logistics strategy like this would be different from the myriad existing government plans and policies. For example, it would reduce transaction and coordination costs for freight operations and the economy as a whole. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/transport/freight/freight-supply-chain-submissions/RDA_Hunter.pdf">The policy</a> can be developed through systematic freight research based on accurate data and other evidence from stakeholders. This may include a series of nationwide inquiries into the priorities for national freight and supply chains. </p>
<p>Other relevant data and information can be collected through industry partnerships and extensive non-partisan consultations. </p>
<p>Each country has its unique issues. A thorough and representative <a href="https://www.webguinee.net/blogguinee/2016/11/nigeria-soldiers-as-policymakers-1960s-1970s">consultation process</a> would therefore be crucial.</p>
<p>A thorough mapping exercise also needs to be done.</p>
<p>Freight networks and hubs consist of multiple visible and invisible economic, social and political connections. These combine to provide an <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1785965">effectively working system</a> and must be identified. </p>
<p>For example, Lagos and Kano are monocentric hubs. What’s meant by this is that freight has to be trucked in or out from the outskirts of the city sprawl, and from other parts of Nigeria at great cost. And with difficulty. A national decentralised system with several hubs across Nigeria would make much more sense. This would allow logistics facilities and infrastructure to be located closer to the sources of major freight generation and consumption, and closer to key transport corridors.</p>
<p>This would make freight transport less reliant on Lagos ports. In turn this would ease the pressure on transport networks. This has positive implications for efficiency, productivity, transport emissions, noise reduction and social equity.</p>
<p>Consideration should therefore be given to several other hubs outside of Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja. For instance, Enugu-Onitsha may serve as a freight hub to support manufacturing and trade, while Makurdi or a similar middle belt city can serve as hub for the food producing regions of the area.</p>
<p>Overall, an audit must be undertaken to identify regulatory, economic or environmental challenges. Skills and geography also need to be part of the picture. </p>
<p>Nigeria’s current approach to the movement of freight is fragmented. It needs a single point of national accountability. </p>
<p>While the current emphasis on road infrastructure projects is good, an integrated freight logistics and supply chain management approach would be better.</p>
<p>Logistics is not as attractive to senior politicians as simply building roads. It therefore struggles to gain political attention. But that’s no reason for the country not to pursue an integrated national freight logistics policy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163095/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Oloruntoba does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In addition to transport, Nigeria needs to pay more attention to logistics and supply chain management.Richard Oloruntoba, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management & Supply Chain Management Lead, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.