Flying Matters crashes

Barry — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:45:46 +0000

This blog carries a warning. Before reading it, fortify yourself with a little rum or whisky. Flying Matters, the pro-aviation lobby group that has fought so hard for expansion of airports across the country, is to fold. According to that well-known publication 'An Executive Review of Business Travel', Flying Matters will be wound up at the end of the month because its corporate backers (mostly airlines) are falling out amongst themselves about the future direction of policy.

So it is farewell to it's chairman Brian Wilson, the once radical Labour MP, who became Tony Blair's Energy Minister and a big defender of nuclear power and airport expansion. Who would have though it would end like this for the radical young journalist who, 40-odd years ago, founded the West Highland Free Press, the hugely popular newspaper which brought a breath of fresh air to Scotland's highlands and island by giving a voice to the crofters and challenging the staid establishment press.

And it's farewell, too, to the face of Flying Papers, Michelle di Leo. Michelle, who once tried to join the anti-expansion network, AirportWatch, under an assumed name, is the daughter of Tony Blair's first aviation minister Glenda Jackson MP. She married Jackson's Dan Hodges who chaired Freedom to Fly, the earlier pro-aviation lobby group, which folder in 2003.

The demise of Flying Matters is a sign of the confusion within the UK aviation industry. It is still in a state of shock that a conservative-led Government dared to drop new runways at Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick. Never before has the industry had such a reverse. For 50 years it has got what it wanted. But it was on the wrong side of the popular revolt - against a third runway at Heathrow. Flying Matters has been swept aside by that.

An executive review of Business Travel commented:

"The organisation did cover a wide spectrum of the industry, including both British Airways and Unite, but there was an argument that Flying Matters carried little weight of influence." It went on: "Any future lobbying group is expected to be formed around a more focused alliance. Vital is the selection of the individual to lead such a coalition, common consensus being that British Aviation is currently lacking such a person."

You can send you condolences to Brian and Michelle at: www.flyingmatters.org.uk