By Danielle Bénadon, member of the Academy
Over the past 50 years, air transport has undergone a radical transformation. From a highly regulated sector, based on the principle of non-competition between French airlines, it has become a highly competitive business on the European medium-haul market and on many long-haul routes. New carriers, based on a different business model, have gradually entered this liberalized world, where they are now key players (low-cost airlines). Successive shocks (oil, terrorist attacks, economic crises) have not affected the tremendous growth in traffic. Flying has become easy and inexpensive.
But the challenges have changed: safety and capacity have been joined by noise, then safety, fair competition, and now the fight against climate change.
