Climate Change, Discretionary Air Travel, and the “Flyers’ Dilemma”

The ‘flyers’ dilemma’ describes the tension that now exists between the personal benefits of tourism and the climate concerns associated with high levels of personal aeromobility. This article presents the first international comparative analysis of attitudes towards climate change and discretionary air travel, providing insights into areas of convergence and divergence across three European societies - Norway, the United Kingdom and Germany. Employing a critical interpretive approach and drawing upon 48 indepth semi-structured interviews, we document evidence of widespread neglect of the ‘flyers’ dilemma’. Our comparative analysis confirms that although current discretionary air travel practices are deeply embedded and resistent to change, attitudes towards the climate crisis and barriers to behaviour change offer points of important contrast between different societies. Efforts to reformulate excessive discretionary air travel in response to accelerating global climate change must accommodate the unique issues and contrasting perspectives that exist in sections of these socieites. Keywords: Climate change, discretionary air travel, ‘flyers’ dilemma’, attitudes, behavior change