The volcano in Iceland had stopped all air traffic in Europe for the last six days. The only things flying were birds and insects, unaffected by the volcanic ash in the air which was floating around. The impact on a day to day basis has been minor, but it has been there. People stuck abroad unable to get home, goods unable to be flown in leaving them wasting away in other countries, the postal service slowing down and oil companies suddenly losing a large part of their income.
So, I invite you to think of a world without airlines and how it would affect you.
How much of your goods are delivered by air frieght and what would be the impact on farmers if they cannot get their fresh produce delivered on time. It has become quite common in the UK to see fresh goods from all over the world. This would surely decline.
Postal services abroad would be dependant on ships, would this be a blow towards their survival.
Holidays to far off places would decline as people would be forced to spend their holiday travelling there and back. How would this impact those countries which depend on tourism for a large part of their income?
War would become a lot harder. Air Support has become a vital part and without it, would governments be a lot less likely to go to war.
So, how would we manage with no aeroplanes?