A world without planes

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?

I might be grossly underestimating how much my daily lifestyle depends on air transportation, but I don't think it would affect me too badly until the next time I wanted to travel. The vast majority of things I eat and wear got to my local store via train, truck, or boat.

I'm think the same thing. If my internet orders and mail take a few more days to arrive it won't matter. I don't actually like to fly and willingly have driven to Florida, New Orleans and etc. Most food goes by boat and truck. More high speed rail would be great and if the planes were grounded I think we would see more money put into trains again.

As to military, I am guessing it would put a lot more money into remote control fighters and bombers. Unmanned flight and give the US in the long run an even larger advantage in large fights and not change the guerrilla fighting much at all. Most nations with large armies that willingly use them like the US and UK are still geared to transport most goods and men by boat.

The worst part is I would be unlikely to ever get back to the UK or visit Ireland.

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Originally posted by CatInASuit

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.

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Oh, good point. Of course those who don't use planes for war, it wouldn't stop them.

In a world with suffocating ash clouds, low tech would win.

As a lapsed pilot who is just waiting for a chance to get back in the saddle, I say a world without planes would be a mistake.

Prior to WW II, we had, not exactly a world without planes, but a world without a plane culture. So we have a blueprint from within living memory of how things could be. In North America, passenger rail would need to be revived to its previous glory. World wide, ocean liners would need to return instead of "cruise ships". Things would be different, but not that bad, I think.

No more sushi in landlocked areas. :(

If all planes were to stop flying permamently tomorrow, there would be havoc in the short run (as is already happening for some businesses, although since the disruption is understood to be temporary, no one is totally regrouping). Those of you who say "I don't fly much so I wouldn't be affected" might be surprised at how much impact you WOULD feel. Multiply "no more sushi in landlocked areas" by a whole lot, and you've got some idea.

For people who live very far away from elderly/infirm parents, it could be a real dilemma. I can comfortably live thousands of miles away from my mother (not that she's happy about it - she isn't) because in event of emergency, I'm only a couple days away. If it would take weeks to wend my way to her, I don't know what I would do, since she has no one in the world to rely on except me.

Just as war would be affected, so would diplomacy. We have come to expect high-level meetings by G-20 officials, presidential visits to rally the troops, and so on. That would all stop, since no one could afford to take the travel time. The World Economic Forum would be so lost, without all of its "prestigious" (snort) conferences to flog. All the environmentalists who met in Copenhagen would have to live what they preach.

The culture of globalization would diminish a bit. Suddenly, foreign countries would become much more foreign. (For Americans, anyway - EU countries would still be closely linked).

And of course, there would be no more jet lag. THAT would be nice.

If all planes were to stop flying permamently tomorrow, there would be havoc in the short run (as is already happening for some businesses, although since the disruption is understood to be temporary, no one is totally regrouping). Those of you who say "I don't fly much so I wouldn't be affected" might be surprised at how much impact you WOULD feel. Multiply "no more sushi in landlocked areas" by a whole lot, and you've got some idea.

For people who live very far away from elderly/infirm parents, it could be a real dilemma. I can comfortably live thousands of miles away from my mother (not that she's happy about it - she isn't) because in event of emergency, I'm only a couple days away. If it would take weeks to wend my way to her, I don't know what I would do, since she has no one in the world to rely on except me.

Just as war would be affected, so would diplomacy. We have come to expect high-level meetings by G-20 officials, presidential visits to rally the troops, and so on. That would all stop, since no one could afford to take the travel time. The World Economic Forum would be so lost, without all of its "prestigious" (snort) conferences to flog. All the environmentalists who met in Copenhagen would have to live what they preach.

The culture of globalization would diminish a bit. Suddenly, foreign countries would become much more foreign. (For Americans, anyway - EU countries would still be closely linked).

And of course, there would be no more jet lag. THAT would be nice.