We’re aviation workers that support airport protests

This week air travellers at the UK’s two busiest airports trying to get away for the summer were greeted by an unusual sight. On Monday, those making their way to the departure gates at Gatwick were blocked by a group of protestors who glued themselves to the floor. On Tuesday, at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, passenger information screens were sprayed with orange paint.

These actions are part of a wave of environmental protests currently sweeping airports across the globe. Last Wednesday, five protesters glued themselves to the tarmac at Cologne-Bonn Airport, causing the cancellation of 31 flights. Barcelona, Boston (US), Frankfurt, Geneva, Helsinki, Montreal, Oslo and Zurich airports have also been targeted.

The protests take place against a stark backdrop, with NASA reporting that July 2024 featured the hottest days ever recorded.

Activists state that they’re part of a coordinated international uprising called "Oil Kills” which aims to end fossil fuels by 2030. They are taking nonviolent collective action at airports which they see as “a key pillar of the fossil fuel economy”.

They demand: “Our governments must work together to establish a legally binding treaty to stop extracting and burning oil, gas and coal by 2030 as well as supporting and financing poorer countries to make a fast, fair, and just transition. This can be accomplished by endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative”

Having holiday plans disrupted is clearly likely to annoy many travellers, and the tabloid press have reported some passengers being furious and irritated by the actions. ‘Click-bait’ headlines have further enraged people, labelling protestors entitled, unjustified, “mob”-like idiots who have nothing better to do than ruin the happiness of others: ad-hominem attacks which stoke the flames of anger-fuelled commentary on social media. 

No doubt, if you were the airport security personnel first responding to any peaceful protest, or an air traveller in the vicinity: your anxiety would initially be heightened. Fear would have swirled through your mind that these protests were something more sinister, for example: a potential terrorist attack.

For cleaners washing-off orange paint and the airport logistics crew responding to disruption, it’s clear that these protests would have made the working day far more stressful.

You might be surprised, however, that there's a growing group of aviation workers who can understand the motivations behind these protests. A global community called “Safe Landing” is connecting professionals from across the industry who are concerned about the future of air travel and want to empower each other to influence it.

We are two such workers: Todd Smith (a trained commercial airline pilot) and Finlay Asher (an aircraft engine designer) who co-founded the group. Both of us recently quit our jobs due to climate-concern, in order to commit full-time to growing the movement.

We expect the current wave of protests will only be the tip of the iceberg of climate action focused on aviation. Our sector is an obvious target for climate protests due to the carbon-intensity of flying. Very few people fly globally (only 1% of people emit half of aviation’s CO2), yet this small minority are often very wealthy, high-emitting, frequent flyers.

Simple maths tells us that business-as-usual air traffic growth is incompatible with hitting global climate targets, so a new strategy is required.

We’ve encouraged airports around the UK to pause any expansion and instead transform their facilities for the future of lower-carbon electric aircraft. They’ve simply ignored our proposals: more than 20 are currently planning to expand. Aviation workers and concerned communities living nearby are not being listened to.

Despite spending vast amounts of time and energy engaging with the industry, the reality is that using the “official” channels and processes often get us nowhere. Few are listening to the very real dangers that we attempt to alert our leaders, colleagues, and politicians to. We aren’t surprised that protestors resort to such visible actions which are proven to attract more media attention.

Environmentalists are often painted as wanting to ban everybody from flying. Apparently they won’t be happy until all planes are grounded. However, we believe the reality is that this is exactly where the current aviation strategy will lead us. Just remember the wildfires across southern Europe last summer and the flooding of Dubai Airport this year. A world of runaway climate breakdown is a world where many tourist destinations become unvisitable, environmental costs stack-up, and flying becomes unaffordable to all but a wealthy elite.

Without action, the industry will crash. This would leave aviation companies with stranded assets, and cause the industry to implode. Many workers could lose their jobs. We are working hard to avoid this by empowering aviation workers to act from within the sector.

As many in our community work on the cutting-edge of technology development, we’re aware that most alternative jet fuel and aircraft technologies being promoted as climate solutions for aviation are mostly greenwash, and will never be scaled in the time required. We therefore understand the need to fly less in the short-term, in order to protect our planet and our ability to continue to fly well into the future.

To meet these goals it’s vital for us to support any campaign demands (as long as they use non-violent tactics) that align with our principles and positions on aviation decarbonisation. We believe that any individual should do whatever they can, however they feel comfortable and wherever they think that their personal strength and ability to influence lies.

Creating change requires a wide variety of approaches in order to be successful. A “spectrum of tactics”. We empower aviation workers to act from within the sector to rapidly reduce the climate impact of aviation. We advocate for deliberative Aviation Workers’ Assemblies to use our collective expertise to navigate a sustainable future for air travel. We also support legal work, engage with public inquiries on airport expansions and respond to government consultations on industrial strategy.

While airport actions will be unpopular with many air travellers, the message being delivered by the protestors is long overdue. We urgently need to phase-out fossil fuel from aviation: or there will be little left to explore and enjoy.

The ultimate goal for everybody is a world that is safe, habitable and free from climate disaster. A world where we can go on holiday, experience other cultures and explore wild habitats, which haven’t been destroyed by extreme weather events. A society where flying is still possible. Where aviation employment is protected, and may even increase.

Maybe such a world would also be free of climate protesters at the departure gates?

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