People have the tendency to think about air travel as a kind of transportation which certainly is true. The question is though, how much of a part does travelling by air actually play in our lives nowadays?
Let us first consider just one plane. Take the Boeing 737, for example. This aircraft was first brought into service in the early 1960s and it, this aircraft has been in service virtually constantly since then. Naturally, there have been some modifications. This is just the same as other kinds of plane. Think about this though: there is said to be a Boeing 737 taking off somewhere in the world every 5 seconds. Take that in for a minute. Of course, this is just one kind of plane. These figures come from data collected from reputable air traffic movement sources.
Take a look at your TV set carefully. I guarantee you’ll spot an image of a Boeing 747. These aircraft move between 400 and 500 people at time over distances of thousands of kilometres every day.
Above I have mentioned instances of just two of the more popular aircraft in the world today. Aircraft we recognise and ones that if we take a trip occasionally, we’re quite likely to use for both short and long haul trips.
Let’s take a look at another manner in which aviation could affect us all. A lot of hospitals today have spaces to land helicopters. These are used for a variety of things in our daily lives. The particular one to which I refer is the lifesaving machine that transports a patient from say a road accident in the quickest way, thereby cutting down the time before the person can be given medical help.
We also see the helicopter every time we journey on motorways to our places of work. Helicopters are used to keep an eye on traffic movement and congestion and are used to report whenever there is a necessity to send out emergency vehicles.
I have made reference principally to the subject of aircraft in our daily lives and above all civil aircraft. However, we do not realise that we are continually being safeguarded by military planes that fly in our skies. Usually we do not see them – but they are there, or at least I hope they are.
Day after day there are military aircraft flying somewhere in the world, often not taking part in military exercises, but in fact carrying out important humanitarian work like delivering food to needy people and delivering vital medicines and other supplies to various parts of the planet.
Perhaps we should really also keep in mind the ways in which all of these various types of aeroplanes are kept flying. I’m not actually describing the dedicated aviators and air crews here, although they play a critical part in guaranteeing our safety and security safeguarding us when we fly, but rather the technicians who look after and maintain the planes. Such people utilise their abilities and knowledge every day, in addition to specialist aviation tool kits, and the reality that travelling by air is as safe as it is can only be due to their professionalism.
I must say that it doesn’t cross my mind very often just how much air travel does impact upon our lives, but modern technology and the number of ways that aircraft are now made use of have made aviation and aircraft virtually indispensable.
Air Travel of the Past and Present 