Constant changes

A retrospective view

“Right from its very earliest days,” writes Jim Eames with sage-like wisdom in our latest retro dispatch, “there has rarely been a level playing field in aviation, particularly in the international sense.” And our long-time Australian Aviation contributor would know better than most, having worked as a director of public affairs for Qantas, press secretary for the minister of aviation as well as a prolific author charting the history of our industry.

It’s a life lesson many big beasts of the industry could do with right now. Since our last report, for instance, we’ve had Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary brand Lufthansa’s bailout as an “illegal” move that would “massively distort competition”; EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou fail in an attempt to oust the airline’s current chairman; and Alan Joyce refuse to keep the middle seat free, because, in his words, “It’s not social distancing, it’s a 60-centimetre difference between two people”. Clearly, they didn’t get the world’s not fair memo.