Netizens Started Brainstorming Alternative Ways To Save SIA Because They Oppose ‘Flight To Nowhere’ Plan

By
Zhi Hao
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Lest you’re unaware, Singapore Airlines has reportedly considered the notion of ‘flights to nowhere’.

As the name implies, these three-hour-long flights will not be destination-centric, but instead, seek to provide a sight-seeing experience for would-be travellers.

They are expected to depart and land at the same destination – Singapore’s Changi Airport.

According to Stefan Wood, Director at Singapore Air Charter, the flights could also incorporate staycations at Singapore’s hotels, “shopping vouchers, and limousine ferry rides”.

They have been touted to commence in late October.

However, as enticing as the prospect of a casual flight may sound, the idea has not gone down well with environmentalists. Preaching the dangers of excessive “carbon emissions”…

These Netizens have taken to social media to oppose the notion.

Netizens Started Brainstorming Alternative Ways To Save SIA Because They Oppose ‘Flight To Nowhere’ Plan

On 13 September 2020, Facebook user Chevon Low uploaded a Facebook post, which serves as a response to Singapore Airlines’ recent announcement of launching “flights to nowhere”.

According to the post, Low, alongside a few other “sustainability champions”, are concerned about the potential carbon emissions from the operation of such flights.

It doesn’t help, she added, that wildfires are currently burning at a never-before-seen rate, with glaciers facing the same fate (melting-wise) as temperatures rise all over the world.

“As fellow concerned Singaporeans and avid fans of your services,” she wrote. “I along with a few other sustainability champions I’ve spoken to are concerned about the carbon emissions from operating these flights, what with wildfires burning and glaciers melting at an unprecedented rate and temperatures rising all over the world.”

However, Low recognises the dire circumstances that led to the airline’s decision. They also took into account the airline company’s recent cuts to its workforce, and admit that it’s a a problem that will likely affect many fellow Singaporeans.

As such, they proposed an alternative:

A public submissions form that will entail ideas from the masses, and offer Singapore Airlines alternatives to its ‘flights to nowhere’ plan.

Low also stated that should the airline company be interested, they are willing to help out.

“We’d like to collect these ideas and send them in to you, in hopes that you would consider them over the flights to nowhere launch and give Mother Nature a chance to heal in this climate crisis,” she wrote.

“If you are interested, we’d also be willing to help support you in releasing these ideas publicly and getting Singaporeans to vote for their favourites, and as such test their viability.

“Feel free to contact us should you wish to support our initiative. We look forward to your response.

“Thank you.”

You can read the full Facebook post here.

UPDATE: We’ve received >1,000 submissions in the past 4 days! Keep them coming! —-Dear friends at Singapore…

Posted by Chevon Low on Saturday, 12 September 2020

Update

And it seems that the idea has worked really well on the public front.

According to an update on the same post, the group has received more than 1,000 submissions in the last four days.

That’s an average of 250 per day.

“UPDATE: We’ve received >1,000 submissions in the past 4 days!” Low wrote.

“Keep them coming!”

Well, that’s a lot of opposing environmentalists alright. Though we do see where they’re coming from.

If you would like to join in on the whole team effort, you can post your own suggestions here.

Tough Times

Amidst these tough times, one can’t exactly blame Singapore Airlines for turning to such a method for earning revenue. Just recently, the company announced plans to retrench roughly 4,300 workers, as it expects to operate on less than 50% of its normal capacity through the end of its financial year.

Singapore Airlines is also not the first airline to offer such a package. From this November to February 2021, Australian airline Qantas plans to offer seven sightseeing flights, lasting for 12 hours, around Antarctica.

In addition, the entire airline industry did suffer tremendously as a result of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. According to the International Air Transport Association, this “is the biggest crisis that the industry has ever faced,” and it predicts the nearly 290 airlines it represents globally to lose $314 billion in this year alone.

So yeah, can’t exactly blame them alright.

However, we can also see where the environmentalists are coming from. After years of being wrecked by all the man-made pollution, Earth has finally found peace to heal and recover.

And should the ‘flights to nowhere’ notion be successful, it will pretty much undo the sparse recovery the planet has indulged in thus far.

And so, we can only hope that there will be a suitable alternative which will serve to salvage the airline company’s financial state of affairs. Though with all things considered…

It may be a little presumptuous to assume a ‘best of both worlds’ scenario at this point.

But still, fingers crossed.

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Zhi Hao
Email: [email protected]