Aviation editor calls for airshow boycott by airlines
In the wake of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 disaster, Air Transport World editor Karen Walker has called for airlines to boycott airshows that are inclusive of both plane makers and arms sellers.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and the 298 people on board perished, according to most reports, after being hit by a missile fired by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.
Walker made her comments in an ATW blog after a week spent at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK.
"International airshows are a regular part of the air transportation and aerospace calendar; they generate huge media interest and are both symbols of prestige for their host nations and conduits for billions of dollars of trade," she wrote.
"But the irony of this week’s events is that on the one hand, we have seen many of the world’s airline top executives attending Farnborough to complete and sign huge new airliner and engine deals at ceremonies in front of the world’s press.
"And on the other hand, all around them are companies who make the kind of weapons that are now suspected of bringing down one of their own.
"Indeed, there are actual exhibits of those types of weapons at Farnborough.
"In truth, these airshows are also arms trade fairs," Walker wrote.
"So I propose that airline executives join together and boycott airshows for as long as they are inclusive of both airliner makers and airliner destroyers.
"It may be a crazy idea, but it’s nowhere as crazy as the shooting down of an airliner.
"And it’s one that would give airlines a chance to demonstrate they will no longer permit their aircraft, passengers and crew to become needless, innocent victims of war."
Ian Jarrett
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