Aiming for the Sky – A Just Transition for the Aviation Industry

Shifting towards climate-just transport and travel. Covid-19 changed a lot, including aviation, which was and still is almost grounded. On the one hand, there has been an increasing critical debate about aviation due to the escalating climate crisis and the pandemic, and there is a real window of opportunity to restructure our economy in a climate just way. On the other hand, we see a resurgence of greenwashing myths launched by the aviation industry and the unconditional willingness of politicians to return to business as usual without any clear concepts for a real just transition of our economy. This session will present the paper “A Rapid and Just Transition in Aviation” which is the result of a collective discussion and writing process by workers in the sector, climate activists, trade unionists and academics, facilitated by Stay Grounded. We will share strategies on how ideas were generated, how we collaborated and possibilities for delivering the changes needed. The paper aims to propose a pathway and criteria for a just transition, pointing out contradictions and asking questions in order to spark discussion – eg. within this workshop and hopefully be one of many drivers for a real and just transition.