British Airways "Ghost Flights": We're on a Plane to Nowhere...

British Airways flies Well, not a plane to nowhere, there’s just nobody on the plane (except, apparently, the pilot and co-pilot).

Anyone who has flown recently has experienced the sheer pleasure of flying: Delayed flights, cramped airplanes, scant leg room, security checkpoints.

Add to this that many airlines, such as British Airways, have passed on increased fuel costs in surcharges to its customers and you’ve got some grumpy, poorer, decidedly discontented passengers.

Who’d of thought that there are big jetliners flying across the Atlantic from London to Canada and the United States with no passengers whatsoever on them, burning that fuel that your paying extra for and dumping tons of carbon into the atmosphere in the process?

Citing logistical problems as the cause, BA has been flying at least one flight per day since November 1^st across the Atlantic completely empty, raising the ire of both customers and numerous environmental groups.

Running a large airline is undoubtedly fraught with logistical hurdles that must be dealt with on a daily basis to keep the operation running. Surely there is a better solution to “cabin crew shortages” than flying huge airliners halfway around the world with only two people on board.

This seems to me as an enormous waste that needlessly contributes to global warming.

Photo courtesy of Boeing