Priorities

The Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption and subsequent paralysis of European air travel has clearly brought our priorities to the forefront: we understand when a natural occurrence disrupts our way of life, but not when it takes up more than four days.

Most business news outlets are reporting on a call for ease of air restrictions. The basis of the argument is that test flights show the ash clouds are not that bad. Also the costs of staying on the ground are mentioned as a killing factor for major airlines.

You'd think safety is the main point of contention here. Crying about costs (and truthfully looking up at the sky I do not see much darkness) seems to indicate safety is deemed of lesser importance than the economic impact.

Is this what the armageddon looks like? Closed airports? Lower share prices?

Priorities guys, priorities...

UPDATE: Silvia Wadwha from CNBC had one anecdote (here), that rings true no matter which way you put it.

"By the way, the aforementioned NATO official was an ex-fighter pilot of 20 years experience and now high-ranking air force officer. Naturally I asked him what he thought about airport closures and flight cancellations.

"One thing we have learned is that you do not fly when volcanic ash is in the air", he declared categorically.

And what if this continues for weeks or months, I asked.

“You don’t fly in volcanic ash."

Just one opinion, but there it is."