After Covid, would you give up flying to combat climate change?

[Aprilrainbow]

After a horrid year we all want a holiday but would you be prepared to give up flying to combat climate change or is that a pre covid thing now? No axe to grind, just interested in peoples views.

Won’t engage with*

No, not a journalist, my writing style is not good enough, just trying to see other people's point of view without getting into one to ones which can sometimes be a bit heated on here.

No. My family live a 4 hour flight away. I will always visit at least once, ideally twice a year. I do other things like recycle, buy sustainable options where I can and grow some of my own fruit and veg. But flying is non negotiable for me.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

I used to enjoy flying and driving everyday but now I can’t see myself flying again. I loved the clear skies during lockdown. I think if you need to you need to but personally I don’t so won’t. We need beautiful sleeper trains instead.

Should be noted that air pollution and carbon emissions are two separate issues. It was immediately noticeable how much cleaner the air was during lockdowns due to the absence of passenger cars, all the while carbon emissions did not really go down all that much.

If you could convert passenger car fleets to electric (impossible, but worthy aim), you could go
far in reducing urban air pollution. Not sure how far you’d go in curbing carbon emissions, that’s a more complicated calculation ...

No - I'm not rich so fly maybe once every two or three years. I think the business who fly people out to meetings a few times a month could maybe look at their practices before I give up my very rare family holiday. Likewise anyone who uses private jet when I'm fairly sure first class on a normal plane would be sufficient.

As with everything to do with climate change it's a handful of large corporations fucking everything up and really the impact of individual actions is extremely small but frequently overestimated and used as a stick to beat others.

What's needed is legislative change on a large scale proportionally targeting those responsible for the majority of emissions not making Sue from Barnsley feel guilty about her jolly to Benidorm every couple of years.

Kind regards
Sue from Barnsley

No, I live at the arse end of the world on a big island and the only way we can go anywhere (including most travel around the big island) is to fly. So, that’s what we will all do here when our sky’s reopen. Our only real alternative for travel is ship and that would take several weeks and I believe the emissions far exceed those from a flight so .......

My parents are dead and my siblings all live on the other side of the country (a mere 41 hour drive away). No, I'm not giving up flying.

Nope

No.

Especially because aviation is farther down the list than other things that we could change first

www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/change-in-global-co2-emissions-by-energy-sector-2010-2018

There is something very sad about a thread with more than half stating they live in countries away from their families. Why? What's so dreadful about the places your family live in, surely you all want to maintain real relationships with your families?

Right now I'm living in the only country in the world where I can do my job. Thankfully, due to climate change, that is likely to quickly change in the next 5 to 10 years and I will be able to bring my experience back to help my home country set up there own infrastructure. I still manage to maintain a real relationship with my family, thanks. It's called Skype and Zoom, and gasp holidays!

Funnily enough, I see my parents as much as most of my high school classmates who only moved to a different part of my country.

There is something very sad about a thread with more than half stating they live in countries away from their families. Why? What's so dreadful about the places your family live in, surely you all want to maintain real relationships with your families?
I have family split between two continents. If I move back then I will be leaving behind family here.

We have been flying less and less anyway for various reasons. However I will give up flying when I see evidence that celebs, royalty and the like are curtailing their globetrotting, or that businessmen and politicians are using technology as a substitute for flying around the world to jollies like Davos.

Not read the thread but I've not flown for 20ys. So I may well give up flying after covid as I don't seem to find t hard

It's might be worth bearing in mind "Business travel" isn't just sharp suited execs working in the financial sector or similar, swanning off for a Madmen style boardroom meeting, prior to a night on the town...something which possibly could be largely replaced by zoom.

A lot of travel for business purpose involves the likes of engineers and other employees who need to actually get hands on a product/see the metal etc in the real world..

As a result I suspect you'll see less demand for the premium cabins for a while but "business travel" isn't dead.

True @notimagain but I know people who do just pop over to New York for a meeting every fortnight, no reason whatsoever apart from a culture of wining and dining clients. I hope that dies, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't.

Hi @Clockstop

Yep, it'll be interesting to see how this all unwinds...

I think as one or two upthread hinted there is a real danger options people had prior to Covid may not be available for quite some time. For all sorts of reasons air travel can't be turned off and then on again like a tap. If significant travel restrictions continue well into the New Year we're going to see even more down sizing of airlines, more layoffs, and I suspect a few major airlines going bust...if that starts happening it will take quite some time for the industry to provide anything like the travel options (flight numbers, destinations, frequency).

Whether people will regard that as good thing or not....??

I do hope there is change though. I would like to continue to drive significantly less in work. I used to spend about 9 hours per week in the car but now don’t. I probably drive about 30 miles a week now and I live rurally.

Eating meat is worse for the environment than air travel.
If you want to do something for the planet. Give up eating meat.

Only when everyone is a vegan should we then tackle other lesser things.
Telling people to give up air travel is just skirting round the issue

I don't think it's the average family having one holiday a year that's the problem.

It's work related business trips with people flying several times a month for "important business things" that are the issue. One of my friends flew to Germany for work on at least 15 separate occasions in 2019! I'm sure the majority of those trips could have been a zoom call.

No, family are abroad
Plus, I’m pretty sure that having a child has the greatest negative impact on the environment...

No - but we have committed to cutting back and have been gradually doing so for a couple of years. We can't give up flying though, not least because DH's family live on another continent and MIL is 78 so it falls to us to do the bulk of travelling and that will only increase the older she gets. Where possible though when travelling to Europe we will either take a train or drive. We used the ski train to the Alps last winter and it really didn't take much longer than flying, even though it's a long train journey.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

I used to enjoy flying and driving everyday but now I can’t see myself flying again. I loved the clear skies during lockdown. I think if you need to you need to but personally I don’t so won’t. We need beautiful sleeper trains instead.

Now I'd be up for this too ... I've been on the British Pullman for a short wine and dine journey. I would love to do an overnight journey somewhere at that standard!

I agree LastTango. Know plenty of executive types who flew long haul more or less weekly. Funnily enough they have managed to keep doing their jobs over lockdown via zoom. It's a lifestyle choice more than anything.