Recess [of] Regional Regrets
Creating more noise about reinvigorating regional airports by producing less of it
(Image by CNN)
Airline Behavioral Economics features and is often sponsored by recommended partners. However, sponsors do not pay for or control specific content, which is exclusively by me. This week’s features:
An interesting trivia about my late father is around SXM, Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint-Maarten (Saint Martin). The company he ran paved the extension of the famous airport runway where aircraft skim over people’s heads.
My father, Rikus Pilon, was CEO of a few road construction companies in former Dutch colonies Surinam, St. Martin, Bonaire, and Curaçao where I was born and grew up. My middle brother (Marcel) can be seen in the ALM aircraft pic (note the a/c registration!). My father is the one on the right at Bonaire’s airport (1970), below.
The runway extension into the laguna stretched the strip to 2,300 m (7,546 ft) and is numbered 10/28. It is considered one of the most dangerous airports in the world. It is relatively short for wide-body large capacity aircraft like Air France’s A340s or KLM’s former 747 Classics and -400s.
(Image by Princess Juliana Airport archives)
But it’s also dangerous because people like to fence-surf behind the runway and airport perimeter on Mayo Beach. I’ve stood behind a KLM 747 at the fence in Curaçao but didn’t count on things other than gusty wind blowing in my face. The suffocating dust, sand, and pointy rocks were painful. Do not repeat.
(Image by Ricardo Pilon)
The blast behind some of the large aircraft, like a B777 can still maintain disrupted winds of 45 nm at a distance of 2200 feet behind the spooling and fully revving GE90 engines.
While the blast is impressive and invigorates many young and old, it’s more the sound and noise that is a big topic for complaints, mental health issues, and an increasingly political-legal argument for shrinking large international airports, such as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). For others, like Billy Bishop airport on Toronto Island, noise has led to talks about airport closure.
However, the rapid evolution of electric aviation could throw regional airport a life line that enables other urban and regional benefits including the removal of road congestion and noise pollution.
Read on how urban and mobility planning will be revived in a socially and environmentally healthy manner through research and deployment of electric aircraft.
Noise complaints
Air transport is the life line for islands like St. Martin and Curaçao. Not only for the island economy (tourism represents 91% of the economy), but also for the import of goods, including foods and small equipment.
The same applies to regional airports, like Toronto Island`s Billy Bishop airport. Although they are often mistaken for pure convenience for (business) air travelers. That may be so, but they enable more inter-urban and local economies that help alleviate over-urbanization and stimulate regional activities elsewhere.
It is often not seen as such because it suffers from the negative halo effect of urban activity, congestion, and noise pollution.
* * * * *
Tolerance is down
Here are a few of my leading statements, so that we can address the matter after:
* Every time the airline industry is hit - like 9/11, Sars, GFC, COVID-19 pandemic, more people question whether we should return to the same scale of flying, despite population growth;
* This was not the case in the 1960s and 1970s because we were in an extended post-war recovery period of growth (late 50s/60s), deregulation (70s), and globalization (80s-90s). Also, all air-political/legal frameworks were aligned around stimulating the industry (e.g., IATA, ICAO, TIACA, ACI, FAA, & EU);
* Today’s younger generations grew up in relative wealth, entitlements, and witness more the flipside of over-tourism at home and pollution elsewhere;
* Meanwhile Generations X, Z, and upcoming Alpha almost buy as much online as the baby boomers, but express shipments and air cargo is a bit hidden from the human eye, so talked about less (cargo is OK but only for the things we ordered);
* Inequality in society is up, and more people still view air travel as a luxury, which creates envy and is something that should be shrunk in more social societies;
* Aviation is seen as more polluting because not everybody can afford it, and cars, trucks and trains have been around longer than commercial aviation (113 years). Psychologically, we consider surface modes more essential, but it’s biased in today’s world.
However, some new and more sustainable technologies (e-viation) may be easier to deploy at scale than believed, because they take up less land and have fewer infrastructure requirements (notably train, trams, subways lead to polluting infra-work).
Ideology is up
Back to lower tolerance. And more ideology.
More people are aware of climate change and the problems it causes or the new problems stemming from it. For instance, we’re more and more trapped between wanting more mobility versus the right (green) way of doing it.
This leads to:
* Gen Alpha being confused. They haven’t seen much of the world, yet;
* Conflicting beliefs and conflicted views about what balance is and whether it should be regulated (see article);
* Feelings of shame and guilt because we all still want to travel, and how do we prevent ourselves from boasting about it in social media(?);
* Double standards about how we see others’ and our own behaviors.
* * * * *
Psychological - not physiological
So, noise complaints are not so related to noise, because the noise print per take-off and landing has gone down dramatically in the last few decades. Volume counts as it creates the perception it’s gone overboard.
Therefore, noise is not physiological (hearing), but more psychological (triggers emotions in our brains).
Being reducetarian (fighting for more moderation in consumption) is gaining ground and so is the moralization of others’ behaviors.
But what if regional aviation actually brings more benefits to society at large, contributes to de-urbanization, and helps people live in more affordable places and spaces?
This is why electric aviation requires more noise. But regional airports need the life line to get there, and this requires massive education and goal-centric policy.
* * * * *
Electric aviation
Recent tests show that switching to electric engines to power Vancouver-based Harbour Air’s DHC-2 Beaver aircraft has led to a 16-22 dB reduction in sound levels.
Lilium, an electric aircraft startup, also tested its eVTOL technology and found 60-43 dB (vertical take-off to initial climb-out) noise levels up to 200 m of altitude. Beyond 1km, both the noise foot print dropped to 20 dB and the plane was invisible.
Below is an image that shows the sound pressure (noise profile) of conventional general aviation aircraft, helicopters, versus Joby’s eVTOL.
(Image by Broekema Aviation)
What is interesting is that most noise complaints in and outside urban areas are found to be related to road and rail transportation (below).
(Image by Broekema Aviation)
But that doesn’t mean aviation is not a target for reduction in noise (and pollution).
The go-to expert and former McKinsey aviation professional Gerben Broekema is one of the specialists I respect the most. He’s dedicated great resources and time to understand and map out all things regional (economic) development and the intersection with electric aviation. Gerben found global, national, and regional/local benefits of embracing electric aviation if one studies all research objectively.
In studying the details, I couldn’t help thinking about Billy Bishop.
* * * * *
Bullying Billy
Bullying Toronto Island’s Billy Bishop airport about noise must be placed in a context against the backdrop of a lot of future potential.
Specifically, electric aviation can lead to the reduction in activity, congestion, and pollution at Toronto’s main hub (YYZ, Lester Pearson Airport), and reduction in train and taxi rides which today have high CO2 and NOx footprints, too.
The opportunity that electric aviation can bring in reinvigorating Billy Bishop airport is related to many positive societal impacts. Each can be measured and held to account (targets), such as:
Redistribution of population / wealth
Lifecycle CO2
Energy efficiency
Safety
(Ultra-) fine particles
Noise
But in each of these categories, there are technology advantages and benefits of electric aviation (eAv) over other transport options.
Who would have thought?
Some examples, before we quit for the day and continue in Part II of this article in March:
eAv can help revive rural communities and kick-start new business conglomerates that connect and safe road/rail kms and pollution
Reduce lifecycle CO2
eAv has no direct CO2, a higher output in terms of seat-km per kg of body work
eAv vehicles have improved glide ratios, no drag from road-friction/thinner air, and more efficient propulsion
eAv batteries are evolving to technology without nickel, manganese, or cobalt.
eAv has a high safety standard like aviation, with death rates 20 times lower than rail and 500 times lower than cars.
In Part II of this article, I will highlight more about electric aviation’s role in regional development and how it will fit into the overall air transport infrastructure and mobility System and help achieve national sustainability goals.
Some interesting trivia before we go:
In an eVTOL when traveling alone, the CO2 is likely 10-12x less than a fossil fuel car, and 4 times less than an EV;
When traveling with 3 people, CO2 is likely 4x less than a car;
Electric aircraft allow distance savings of 10-20% fewer kms needed for the same trip and 50% of the Wh/pkm (around 60-100 Wh/pkm) of electric vehicles.
See you next week.
Wishing you all a wonderful day, and greetings from a thawing Montréal.
Ricardo
Montreal, Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Feel free to contact me for questions, comments, or a chat:
ricardo(at)pomonaadvisors(dot)com
my general email has changed to: info(at)ricardopilon(dot)com