Latest news with #airlinepilot
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
I quit my job as an easyJet pilot because of the climate crisis. Here's how we can transform aviation
I love flying. I've wanted to be a pilot since I was young. I grew up in Chichester, West Sussex, under a flight path used by Gatwick airport planes, and used to watch as they traversed the sky. In 2019, once I had qualified as an airline pilot, I began working for easyJet. Aviation connected me to my extended family in Canada, exposed me to different cultures and gave me an unforgettable career. But in November 2022, I handed over my airport ID card for the last time. I had grown increasingly anxious about the effect that our industry was having on the planet and, deep down, I knew that my concern for the climate crisis meant being an airline pilot was damaging my mental health. Despite no longer working in the industry, my love of aviation has driven me to protect our ability to fly for future generations. It inspires me to address the uncomfortable realities and decisions our industry now faces. Everyone knows that aviation has a gigantic emissions problem. In 2022, the UK's domestic and international flights produced 29.6m tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions, accounting for about 7% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions. This is projected to increase to 11% by 2030, because while other sectors are decarbonising, aviation emissions will remain stable or even increase. But the emissions problem stems from an even bigger problem. One report looked at emissions reduction and efficiency targets set by individual aviation companies over the past 25 years; all but one were missed and quietly abandoned. The industry knows that it's a big contributor to the climate crisis, but decisions are made within power structures and processes that have failed to address these problems. Airlines fight to outcompete each other on profit. They lobby governments to avoid the measures that we need to reduce emissions and protect the industry long-term. Meanwhile, governments have done little to regulate this aspect of the industry. This same short-term thinking is reflected in unions that support airport expansion in a bid to protect jobs and livelihoods. Unions have historically done a very good job at challenging employers over pay deals and terms and conditions. But in the aviation industry, unions are guilty of the same short-term thinking as employers. There are plenty of ideas for how we create an aviation industry that's fit for the future, starting with a non-negotiable emissions budget that would set limits on the total amount of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide aviation can produce. We will also need aviation to pay its fair share in tax (currently, jet fuel is tax free). The government could introduce a frequent flyer levy, so those who use aviation the most (ie the very wealthy) would pay a tax to help fund the research and development of low-carbon technologies, which in turn could help to create more skilled jobs. In the future, a long-haul journey might comprise multiple, slower hops in a low-carbon hybrid electric aircraft, while shorter, essential flights, such as those to and from Scottish islands, could be taken in small electric aircraft. The problem isn't a lack of options. The industry is full of highly skilled and motivated people who want to do good in the world. It's that the industry suffers from a crisis of imagination. There are two prevailing visions for the future of aviation, neither of which are compelling. Industry leaders want eternal growth, relying on speculative technologies and unproven carbon capture. Climate activists and advocates want an immediate reduction in air travel. While aviation workers can often see right through the former vision, the latter is hardly inspiring. I was determined to do something about this, so in the spring of 2020 I joined Safe Landing, a community of aviation workers who want the industry to do better for the climate. We have been running workers' assemblies that invite aviation workers to grapple with these issues which have been mostly neglected by politics. We want these to serve as an example to the government and also unions, which could commission their own assemblies to give workers a voice in how our industry will have to change. One of the most damaging ways to tackle the climate crisis is by forcing policies on people. Workers' assemblies can bridge social divides, give people agency and control over their lives, and rebuild trust in politics. There are so many ideas for how we could improve the future of flying. But first, we need to get to the heart of the power problem and start making decisions differently, both as an industry and as a country. Workers' assemblies have to be part of the answer. George Hibberd is a former airline pilot and now works with aviation workers in Safe Landing to run workers' assemblies. He appears alongside fellow pilot Todd Smith in the Guardian documentary Guilt Trip
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
My 17-year-old will probably skip college and attend flight school instead. I think that's a smart plan.
My wife and I both went to college and believe that our degrees helped us build stable lives. Our son may choose a different path, attending flight school instead of a four-year university. Rising tuition and the potential for student loan debt make college less appealing to us. My wife and I both went to college and graduated with bachelor's degrees. On the whole, I think we'd both agree that college was worth it for us. We got to have the careers we wanted. College degrees helped us to build a stable, prosperous, and interesting life. But college isn't for everyone. And our oldest child is on a very different path — a flight path. That's right: our 17-years-old son wants to be an airline pilot. And airline pilots don't have to go to college. Instead of a four-year degree, we're considering a different plan for him where he would stay at home for a year after high school and complete his pilot training at a private flight school near our home. Here are a few reasons why I'm totally fine with my son skipping college. Several decades of rising tuition, high levels of student loan debt, and widespread economic uncertainty in the job market, have led many Americans to no longer believe that college is always worth the cost. A Pew Research survey in 2024 found that only 22% of Americans believe that college is worth taking out loans to pay for. My wife and I are lucky. Our student loans were manageable, and have been paid off for many years. But not every college graduate feels like their degree was a great investment and not every degree leads to a guaranteed six-figure salary. And if you run into financial trouble, student loans can be hard to get rid of. It can be difficult to get them discharged through bankruptcy, and the government can garnish your wages if you fall behind on student loan payments. The American college experience isn't always a carefree time of football games, fraternity parties, and Frisbee on the quad. It can be a big financial risk. Not every family wants to take that risk. We don't. We'd rather support our son in getting exactly the right training that he wants to have for his career, without spending a bunch of money on extra classes that he's not as interested in. Not everyone is cut out for full-time academic coursework — and that's okay. If a kid has already spent the first 18 years of their life going to school and following rules and doing homework and sitting indoors under fluorescent lights, they might not be excited for another four years of that experience. Many young people go off to college — and rack up a few semesters' worth of student loans — only to find that they don't want to sit in a classroom anymore, so they drop out. The financial stakes of making the wrong decisions about college can be high. People who don't finish their degree are twice as likely to default on their student loans. If you're not 100% sure that college is right for you, you might be better off not going. My son is in this category. He's good at high school, and he takes AP math and science classes, but he's highly motivated and focused on being an airline pilot. He doesn't want to be in a classroom, he wants to be in a cockpit. I don't want to hold him back from doing what he's most interested in and passionate about. If our son wanted to go to college and be an airline pilot, we would support him in that. There are great four-year universities and two-year community colleges that offer pilot training combined with academic degree programs. But we think a private flight school (with no college attached) might be a better fit for what he needs. He can live at home, save money on rent and car payments, and get flight training at our local airport — everything he needs to launch straight into his flying career. And most importantly, even aside from the money, fast-tracking his future with a private flight school just feels like what our son needs. He's passionate and highly motivated about aviation. He's taken aviation classes and private flight lessons while in high school. He's exceptionally level-headed and responsible. He's learning all the Federal Aviation Administration rules, airplane mechanics, and aviation lingo. He's already spent hundreds of hours training with flight simulation software. This is what he wants to be when he grows up, and he's ready to go after it, full throttle. And we're ready to watch him fly. Read the original article on Business Insider
