Lucy C.S. Budd

A Fiasco of Volcanic Proportions? Eyjafjallajokull and the Closure of European Airspace

Abstract The unprecedented and recurrent closure of much of UK and northern European airspace from 14 April 2010, following the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, caused the cancellation of 108,000 flights, disrupted the travel plans of 10.5 million passengers, and cost the airline industry in excess of

The software-simulated airworld: anticipatory code and affective aeromobilities

1.7 billion in lost revenue. The airspace closures highlighted the inherent riskiness of aviation and destabilised dominant cultural discourses of the ‘superiority’ and capability of aviation technology. It also brought issues of risk acceptability and our socio‐economic reliance on air travel into sharp relief. This paper explores how the political and media framing of the response to the airspace closures as a human ‘policy fiasco’ served to obfuscate the inherent dangers of aviation and ‘get Europe flying’ again. Thus, this paper contends that this particular fiasco was ‘necessary’ in that it served to highlight the fragility of air travel and the vulnerabilities of the mobile citizen.

Of plagues, planes and politics: Controlling the global spread of infectious diseases by air

This paper is concerned with the way in which airspaces are organised, managed, and understood by virtual representations—software simulations that are tested and used both preemptively and in real time. We suggest that, while airspaces are often understood as simulations themselves—models and blueprints for real-world futures—they are among the most mediated of all contemporary social environments, produced not only through code, but based on scenarios which predict and plan for future events—real vitalities that might come true. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples of aeronautical software simulation employed by civilian and military aviation, we explore how code has become increasingly sophisticated and ubiquitous in response to the challenges set by the mobilities the simulations model and the affective susceptibility of the corporeal body that uses them. The paper explores how software simulations work to structure and mediate behaviour by producing specific emotional and affective experiences in order to prepare the body for future encounters.

Airports, Localities and Disease: Representations of Global Travel During the H1N1 Pandemic

Abstract In recent years, the implications of globalisation for the spread of infectious diseases has begun to emerge as an area of concern to political geographers. Unsurprisingly, much of the contemporary literature focuses on the multifarious threats posed by human and, increasingly, non-human mobility. Prompted by current geopolitical concerns surrounding the public health implications of regular international air travel, this paper extends such research by exploring the ways in which the technology of the aeroplane stimulated the production of new international sanitary initiatives aimed at safeguarding global public health in an era of mass aeromobility. By tracing the development of sanitary regulations for aerial navigation, from their origins in the 1920s through the twentieth century in particular, we document the emergence of a series of public health interventions that were designed to limit the public health threat associated with increased international air travel and the concomitant rise in the mobility of infectious diseases. From inoculation certificates to quarantine and the routine ‘disinsection’ of passenger aircraft with powerful insecticides, modern air travel is replete with a complex set of procedures designed to lessen the risks associated with flying between different climatic and ecological zones. Our detailed examination of the historical context in which these procedures were devised and implemented leads us to consider the importance of time and space, power and efficacy, to the development of a more nuanced understanding of the shifting public health response to an increasingly fluid, mobile, and inter-connected society.

The local impact of global climate change: reporting on landscape transformation and threatened identity in the English regional newspaper press:

Abstract During summer 2009, the UK experienced one of the highest incidences of H1N1 infection outside of the Americas and Australia. Building on existing research into biosecurity and the spread of infectious disease via the global airline network, this paper explores the biopolitics of public health in the UK through an in-depth empirical analysis of the representation of H1N1 in UK national and regional newspapers. We uncover new discourses relating to the significance of the airport as a site for control and the ethics of the treatment of the traveller as a potential transmitter of disease. We conclude by highlighting how the global spread of infectious diseases is grounded in particular localities associated with distinctive notions of biosecurity and the traveller.

Stakeholder views of the factors affecting the commercialization of aviation biofuels in Europe

This paper contributes to extant understandings of media representations of climate change by examining the role of the English regional newspaper press in the transformation and dissemination of climate change discourse. Unlike previous accounts, this paper contends that such newspapers shape public understandings of climate change in ways that have yet to be adequately charted. With this in mind, this paper examines the ways in which global climate change is translated into a locally relevant phenomenon. That is, it focuses on its “domestication.” Although we acknowledge that there are a number of ways in which this process occurs, specific attention is drawn to stories that highlight the destruction of local landscape features, the transformation of important habitats, and the arrival of “alien” species. The broader significance of such stories is considered in relation to long-standing debates concerning the importance of landscape to notions of national and regional identity.

Sustainable aviation futures: crises, contested realities and prospects for change.

Biofuels are being advocated by certain sections of the commercial aviation industry as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering fossil-fuel dependency within the confines of current aircraft technology and infrastructure. Rising oil prices, increasingly stringent environmental legislation, and continued growth in air travel demand have stimulated the development of renewable lower-carbon fuel alternatives that can act as a substitute for conventional Jet A1 kerosene. However, although biofuels may offer a number of apparent benefits, barriers to widespread commercial uptake and deployment remain, including concerns about competition for feedstocks and impact on global water resources and biodiversity. The processes involved in the uptake of aviation-grade biofuels are not straightforward and there is a need to explore the factors affecting commercial deployment. This paper reports on the findings of a series of in-depth semistructured interviews with key aviation stakeholders in Europe. The research reveals that concerns about the supply of suitable feedstocks, uncertainty surrounding the true life-cycle emissions savings of the fuels, and the perceived lack of policy support are key obstacles that need to be addressed before aviation biofuels can be widely utilized. The research also reveals that the potential inclusion of aviation within the EU Emissions Trading Scheme will create a zero accounting “loophole” for biofuel that may uniquely influence the pattern of uptake in the EU vis-à-vis other world markets. Additional key constraints identified include limitations on the supply of suitable feedstocks, concerns about sustainability of the fuels, and uncertain policy support.

Environmental technology and the future of flight

Abstract Purpose This chapter examines the torsions and blind spots that structure the contemporary debate on the politics and policy of aviation. It also generates different scenarios for the future of air travel, which can help to unblock the current impasse about the perceived costs and benefits of aviation and its attendant infrastructural needs. Originality This chapter characterises and evaluates the competing frames that organise the contested realities of air transport. By mapping out the current fault lines of aviation politics and policy, the chapter is also able to delineate four main scenarios regarding the future of aviation, which we name the ‘post-carbon’, ‘high-modernist’, ‘market regulation’ and ‘demand management’ projections respectively. Methodology/approach The chapter problematises and criticises the existing literature, policy reports and stakeholder briefings that inform the contemporary standoff in UK aviation policy. It uses the definition of sustainable development as a heuristic device to map and identify the fault lines structuring contemporary debates on aviation futures. It then builds upon this analysis to delimit four different scenarios for the future of flying. Findings The chapter analyses the contested realities of aviation politics. It re-affirms the political nature of such divisions, which in turn structure the rival understandings of aviation. The analysis suggests that the identified fault lines are constantly reiterated by competing appeals to ambiguous and contradictory evidence-bases or policy frames. Ultimately, the chapter claims that any significant reframing of aviation policy and politics rests on the outcome of political negotiations and persuasion. But it also depends on the broader views of citizens and stakeholders about the future challenges facing society, as well as the way in which governments and affected agents put in place and coordinate the multiple arenas in which a dialogue over the future of aviation can be held. Aviation futures cannot be reduced to the narrow confines of the technical merits or claims surrounding the feasibility of policy instruments.

Chapter 3 An International Dimension: Aviation

Abstract Purpose To examine the role of new aeronautical technologies in improving commercial aviation’s environmental performance. Methodology/approach Reviews the environmental improvements that may be conferred through the adoption of alternative aviation fuels and new airframe, engine and navigation technologies. Findings Although aeronautical technologies have evolved considerably since the earliest days of powered flight, the aviation industry is now reaching a point of diminishing returns as growing global consumer demand for air transport outstrips incremental improvements in environmental efficiency. The chapter describes some of the technological interventions that are being pursued to improve aviation’s environmental performance and discusses the extent to which these innovations will help to deliver a more sustainable aviation industry.

The view from the air: the cultural geographies of flight

Purpose – To examine the relationship between aviation and climate change, and the international dimensions of air transport. Methodology/approach – A review of aviations impacts on the global climate, mitigation strategies to reduce this impact, and the possible consequences of climate change for commercial aviation. Findings – Although a range of mitigation measures have been developed and implemented to reduce aircraft emissions in the short term, with some environmental benefit, there is a real need for the aviation sector to identify the possible impacts of climate change on air travel operations, both to aircraft in flight and to operations at airports. A further challenge will be to devise adaptation plans that will address the vulnerabilities and thus ensure safe aviation-related operations. Social implications – The climate change impacts of aviation will adversely affect society. In addition, some individuals may have to reduce or stop flying as a result of increased taxes and legislation implemented in response to climate change. Originality/value of paper – There is a novel focus on the adaptation challenges for the aviation industry in response to climate change.