Irish Examiner view: Covid likely to force a rethink on air travel

The news that Aer Lingus is to permanently close its cabin crew base at Shannon Airport and temporarily law off staff in Cork is a devastating blow. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

There is little reason for optimism among those working in the Irish travel industry. The multibillion-euro sector is facing a crisis that shows no signs of abating. It was the first to be shut down by the pandemic and, as seems increasingly likely, it will be among the last to reopen.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has already said that non-essential travel probably won’t resume until late August, but even that date is not cast in stone. There are still too many uncertainties. One of those is the risk posed by the highly transmissible Indian variant of Covid-19, with some medical experts seeking the inclusion of more countries on the mandatory hotel quarantine list while retaining international travel restrictions.

An EU digital green certificate, designed to allow safe free movement inside Europe, is expected to be in place by mid-June, but any easing of restrictions here will be gradual and cautious.

All this is taking place against a backdrop of devastating financial loss. Ryanair reported record losses of over €800m during the last financial year. During that time, the company never missed an opportunity to criticise flight bans and lockdowns. While that is understandable, Ryanair must be challenged for aggressively pedalling the notion that public health policy should be shaped by commercial concerns.

It ran a particularly cynical advertising campaign urging travellers to “vax and go” when vaccines were being rolled out.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the stark reality of job losses. Yesterday, Aer Lingus said it would permanently close its cabin crew base in Shannon and temporarily lay off staff in Cork. New Aer Lingus CEO Lynne Embleton has already warned that the company would not get through the pandemic without a knock-on effect on jobs.

Airlines, the world over, are facing an unprecedented challenge, but now it is clear that the lifting of travel restrictions will not be enough to restore air travel to its former profitability. The pandemic has, rightly, forced many to rethink air travel, taking into account both its monetary and environmental cost.

In the finance sector, for instance, some of Europe’s largest banks have said they plan to reduce foreign travel. Some plan to cut air travel by as much as half and said they would encourage employees to take the train where possible to reduce carbon emissions.

Others have said that Zoom and other platforms provided an adequate replacement for the pre-pandemic red-eye day trips to meetings in other cities.

While many will rush to book sun holidays or return to business travel when restrictions finally ease, there will also be a significant proportion of one-time air travellers reluctant to return to the air. That is a positive step because it is high time we looked at the environmental cost of air travel.

Having said that, we can’t minimise the effect of job losses in the sector either. In the months ahead, we are likely to see an attempt to balance the commercial (but carbon-heavy) interests of the travel industry against the more urgent need to tackle the climate crisis. It will be a lively discussion.