This is why I have an issue. To state a general fact most people on here are train spotters, they don't fly much, they don't get how airlines work, they don't know much about the industry as a whole but 'claim' to know a lot.
I think you do a grave dis-service to many of our members who are a remarkable bunch. I can't count the number of times I have said "my goodness" to myself when someone or other has let slip, often unintended within a full post, just what experts they are and what they have achieved, in utter modesty.
The way I see it, if you don't know much about something either go a learn about it (Not just read stuff off wikipedia or BBC» News) but properly learn and investigate it. Alternatively don't say anything at all. Quite frankly it's as simple as that!
On average, a Coffee Shop thread provokes 10 follow up posts, of which I would guess an average of three might be from the original poster. So that's just seven members who have said something. Most members are indeed 'just' reading and learning. In the last 24 hours, a hundred and one different members have been logged in to the forum; I cannot tell you how many have read each thread, but I can tell you that on average a member visiting reads well over 7 threads or equivalents at each visit, and that there are many who visit multiple times per day. So commenting is rare.
People typically post because they
can make a contribution, because they have read something and want to ask / check to see what others make of it, or because they've got a question. And that's very much encouraged as it builds up their knowledge, and the knowledge of other members, and sometimes debunks fake news / incorrect rumours.
You write "but properly learn and investigate it. Alternatively don't say anything at all.". No - I cannot agree with you.
Asking questions and sharing views with others is part of the process of learning and investigating. If everyone followed your alternative, we would learn nothing ...
Trying to make out that it's for the good of the planet or because people have the right to say stuff is nonsense. It's like me going into the Savoy and telling Gordon Ramsay how to cook Scallops, he's got 25 years+ experience, I've never cooked them before in my life.
We are learning - and the stakes are high - what is good for our planet and the discussion is a valuable one. Gordon Ramsay is a good analogy; for sure, few will tell him how to cook scallops, but we may tell him how much we enjoy them (or not), we may ask him how he gets a particular effect, and we may make suggestions or requests ("could I try that with some cinnamon please"). Watch his
TV▸ show visiting restaurant disasters and you'll see Gordon listening to the people dining - learning from those people, and moving the restaurant forward for what his customers want; it may be taste, it may be nutrition value, it may be for a pleasant environment, it will certainly be for their health.
Customer feedback and questions are gold dust! Feedback and questions are real drivers and one of the most frustrating thing for a supplier or expert is to have people be critical but keep it to themselves - simply not return ... and if that means answering the same ole question many times, so be it - perhaps time to write an
FAQ▸ or to give the answer wider publicity. Silent customers who fail to return, or tell their friends how they didn't get what / the answers to questions they asked, are the dread of a business.
But - sometimes - the FAQ or answer by some other means will
not provide the answer you would have liked:
If we are serious about the climate emergency, we need to fly and drive a lot less. Rail is the obvious alternative.
Very little flying for almost 12 months, absolutely no change to the climate. Says it all really.
As I understand it, "no change to the climate" (what authority are you quoting?) in 12 months may not be a surprise. With the noise of climate variance year to year, I don't see how anyone can reach a conclusion as to whether or not there's a change in such a short period. Within the inertia of the planet and its resource changes, I would be surprised to see anything that could be identified that quickly. And with so many other factors and element making up the pressures on our climate, I don't see how the single element of flying (when many other elements have changed this year too) can be directly correlated to climate to the exclusion of other elements.
You, southwest, are our Gordon Ramsay. Please explain to me, as a customer in your restaurant, how you as the expert who has stated the conclusion that flying hasn't been changing the climate in the past and suggesting (it seems) that we can carry on / resume flying again in due course without climate penalty.
Click on the map to explore geographics
