Steve Walker wrote:
On Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:31:01 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Dave Starling wrote:
Would/could we
survive without taking any flights around Europe for two years?
Certainly.

I really cannot think of a single example of a flight I have ever taken
that was NECESSARY.

Even airfreight is only a time convenience, except on a very few cases
where time is of the essence, not just of the convenience.

No absolutely necessary flights, but I've made a number of personally very
important flights - my wife has a large family in Ireland, when someone
dies, we have had as little as four hours' notice to grab the last flight
of the day, so as to get over in time for a funeral first thing the next
morning. In reverse they have been called over with similarly short notice
for a few last words when family here have been on the verge of death or
when someone has ended up in ICU with a very poor prognosis.

Such a flight is certainly not truly necessary, but it is very important on
a personal/family level.


kill the planet and attend a funeral.

Sounds pretty much the way the thinking goes these days ;-)

SteveW