There is a lot of media attention on the ash cloud following the volcanic eruptions in Iceland and I’m starting to wonder by how much are we over-reacting.

It’s akin to using a mobile phone in a petrol station. One or two extreme incidents create worldwide panic and gross over exaggeration by the media does nothing to retain a balanced argument and almost forces the hand of those in control to over-react.

In the early days of using car phones there was a small chance that when a call was established there may be a spark between the aerial and the car body that it was attached to. We are going back to the days before glass mounted aerials and handheld phones here!! That spark in extreme circumstances could ignite the petrol fumes and cause an explosion. With the current handheld mobile you’ll see panic on the face of petrol station employees if a customer is seen to be using one either inside or out of their car, usually followed by demands over the PA system that the phone use is stopped immediately. In reality, the act of getting out of one’s car and getting a static shock is more likely to cause an explosion in a petrol station than using a mobile phone.

In the same way, we have to look at this cloud for what it is and the true danger it poses to air travellers. When BA Flight 9 flew through volcanic ash in 1982 all four engines failed. However, after a glide descent to clear air, the engines were restarted and the aircraft was flown to a safe landing with no casualties. In all of my research (and this is my research so may not be totally conclusive) I cannot find a story of a plane crashing due to the ingestion of debris from a volcano. The other thing to keep in mind is that Flight 9 flew through an area of intense ash and debris where little dispersal had taken place.

The ash cloud that we’re talking about has been spread over a very vast area and it is believed by many that there is approximately one egg cup full of ash per square mile of sky – this, as was proved yesterday by KLM, BA and Lufthansa poses little or no risk to a modern jet engine.

Moreover, we need to look at this situation with some more practicality. Modern technology allows us to gain a very accurate picture of where the cloud is, what the altitudes are and so on. Using this data it should be possible to get many more flights off the ground without risking any passenger’s or crew member’s safety by flying under, over and around the affected airspace. The blanket closure is already receiving a lot of criticism and is said to be costing airlines, travel companies, airports and associated businesses in excess of £250M (again based on my research).

We would never break away from our safety first approach and wouldn’t accept a flight that posed any risk to our customer’s safety, so we’re not going to rush anything and we will work in accordance with the law and relevant aviation regulation. We just want those that set the rules for us to be practical and sensible, at the moment I’m not too sure that’s the case.

Our very best wishes are extended to the people of Iceland affected by this volcanic activity and to those stranded by the current conditions and closed airspace.