British Airways Petition - Keep Travelling
BA want to ban surfboards - It alienates surfers, and it makes no sense. It is a false economy.
BA have been a progressive airline when dealing with boards - but if this goes ahead - they will actually be worse than RyanAir.
Please sign the petition - it is in all our interests
I’ve changed my post here, the link above is really the better one - concentrate all efforts into one place
Corran
done
salu2
uzzi
Thanks Corran - United we Stand a chance, divided we wipe out
Hey Simon, did BA say WHY boards are being banned?
Does it have anything to do with security…or are they just discriminating without reason?
Just signed it too. I suggest everybody here does the same, even if you’re not using BA (I, for one, am not). Just so that other companies won’t do the same…
Hey Simon, did BA say WHY boards are being banned?
Does it have anything to do with security…or are they just discriminating without reason?
Nope, I have sent an email requesting an interview for worldsurfradio.com
It basically has to do with the new high tech baggage handling system at heathrow airport. The system can;t handle long objects and they can;t be bothered to take it by hand
Corran
If they can handle fishing rods, Bikes and snowboards, they can deal with surfboards
Done! In the comment box I stated that this policy singles out surfers and that I regularly see golfers treated with much more respect than surfers when in reality their excess baggage is usually heavier…
Thanks to everyone who has already signed.
Please spread the word about this to all your surfing and non-surfing mates - spread the word to other forums
Today Surfboards, tomorrow musical instruments - or who knows what else.
The more people who sign, the better a chance we have to change this decision.
Done. Signed and posted.
It is discriminatory what airlines do to surfers. When I went to Chile a couple years ago I flew on United. They charge for surfboards, but apparently not for snowboards and ski’s. When we were coming home, the lady who was checking us in asked ,“Are these your snowboard bags.” My friend and I looked at each other, and then replied “Yes… they are.” Amazingly, there was no fee.
My comment on the petition was that no business or leisure travel under my control would go to BA
Dr Red
Count me in. If they ban boards then they shall be banned as well as any airline that follows suit!
I know this isn’t going to be a popular point of view but maybe it might provoke some thought on this matter.
The UN released a major report on our planet’s environmental health today and we are in deeeeeep shit. The kind of shit that our kids and grandkids are gonna spend their whole lives digging themselves out of. A reduced quality of life for them now seems extremely likely and that is a major bummer for me.
I’ve got a 4 year old daughter and when I see the joy in her eyes when we go hunting in rockpools for fish, starfish and sea anemones it makes me sad that one day that will be gone for her and for her children.
Air travel is one of the major culprits for greenhouse emissions and as surfers we have to rethink our attitude that it our god-given right to fly with surfboards anywhere we want anytime we want. We are seriously writing cheques our planet cannot cash and this is one of the main ones.
The next gen will face many hard decisions because of our profligacy and no amount of retro inspired nostalgic denial is gonna change that. Hard choices will have to be made.
Are you a surfer? Where do you live ? If you need to hop on a jet to go surfing then maybe you need a serious rethink of your chosen recreation. Or where you live.
Surfers in the future will have to become more coastal, more local, more tribal; in the sense of having stewardship over their area and protecting it from rampant exploitation and over-development.
With the explosion of surfing into Europe and especially land-locked and/or marginal surfing countries Air travel for surfing will become a major ethical and environmental issue for them. Especially as their image of surfing is as an activity in harmony with nature and the ocean. There is nothing harmonious about the greenhouse gases spewing out the back of the 747 filled with boards heading to the Superbank or Hawaii.
Surfing has well and truly grown out of the age of innocence and no amount of sepia toned nostalgia will bring it back. The question now is what kind of ocean, what kind of surfing experience are we gonna hand on to the next generation ?
All good points Lennox, and - sincerely I share your concerns.
but the fact is most surfers need to travel to some extent, by car/plane etc.
Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis-
Air Travel is here, de facto de jure.
As you very wisely said no amount of sepia toned nostalgia will bring it back.
So -we can try to make things better for the future in a pragmatic way.
For example in my podcast I have interviewed people about Synfuels and cleaner jet engines (show 19)
As consumers we can force change.
A major problem I have with the ban is that it singles out surfers - so that is really unfair.
Most of us want to travel to surf at some stage.
Being discriminated against by BA is unfair.
Lets try to solve this current problem, together - and move twoards cleaner air travel in the future, together
When it comes to travel I do what I can. Locally I cycle, use trains and trams - hence the new 7’2 board ( made with Biofoam and bioresin from the UK and Bamboo fabric from US) as I am tired of being scolded by conductors (7’2" is the standard height of a tram/train/bus over here)
I normally have to fly to go to work so I try where possible to bring a board with me when going to work, then rebook my flight at the end of a contract and surf locally - killing two birds with one stone - but if boards were banned by BA then the other option is to fly to that place twice, but using a different airline.
The ban makes no sense.
Done that and told all the surfers in my e-mail contacts.
This link was posted on the finnish surfers' forum:
http://www.twsbiz.com/twbiz/industrynews/article/0,21214,1677347,00.html
Seems pleasing enough!
Signed!