In modern times, the demand for international as well as domestic air travel has tremendously increased. Furthermore, many countries fear that this may cause adverse effects on the environment. Therefore, proposals have been made to increase the taxes imposed on air travel as it is believed that doing so will encourage fewer flights. Hence, decreasing carbon emissions and resulting in achieving a cleaner planet. Sounds simple, right? Well, it’s not that simple. I believe that this solution will not be sufficient to fix the problem at hand.
To start off, imposing taxes on a commodity never decrease its need. Instead, it tends to decrease the buying power of the people. Lesser buying power means a lesser amount of people are able to afford tickets. Lesser sales of air tickets will cause losses to these companies. Therefore, to compensate for the losses, airlines will be compelled to lower their rates to attract more customers. And we are back to square one!
See, the problem is not with the pricing of the flights. Instead, the problem lies within the actual efforts being put towards regulating aeroplanes. Regulations in terms of frequent inspections, the inability to select cheaper flight routes and the lack of adoption of the best practices which reduce carbon emissions. For instance, an estimate suggests that most of the planes in use by many famous airlines are over 2 decades old. This is a very long time, considering the fact that the history of commercial airlines goes back a mere half-century.
In conclusion, the economical side of matters must be carefully balanced and analysed when it comes to setting fare prices. In addition, strict regulations, inspections and innovation must be practised when it comes to modernising aeroplanes to ensure a smaller carbon footprint. This planet is our home and must be very careful when it comes to preserving the environment. After all, we are not going to get a second planet