Maeve Higgins: No such thing as 'flygskam' as airline industry takes off once again

While it felt important to secure the airline industry and associated jobs with huge financial support in the middle of the pandemic, Maeve Higgins feels we missed an opportunity to link environmental change from the industry as terms for the bailout. 

The airline industry has started to recover and, of course, wants to hold onto its profits after handing taxpayers their debts. But the US government, and others, have missed the opportunity to change it for the better.

This week, I was sitting on a Southwest Airlines flight from New Orleans to New York, reading about how the government has questions for airline executives. The government had summoned these executives to appear at Capitol Hill and answer their questions, most of which concerned the massive bailout the industry received last year. The bailout saved them after their business dropped by more than 80% when the pandemic took over the world and kept us all on the ground. 

The airline industry has started to recover and, of course, wants to hold onto its profits after handing taxpayers their debts. I was intrigued by this story of economic socialism in the private sector. I was distracted from my newspaper app by the incessant chattering coming from the speakers all around the airplane. The air steward was making all the usual announcements about seatbelts and life jackets, but he was drawing them out with his verbal flourishes and, it's not a stretch to say, adding full anecdotes too. One of my favourite things in the world is finding a joker in the pack, a person doing their day as usual but also doing it as a bit. So I paid attention and chuckled along as he said, "Now, as soon as we are wheels up, I'm on break. I'm feet up, you hear me? So ask your questions now."