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ID: 161686

Airports Commission, the Dilemmas of Political Leadership and the Third Runway at Heathrow Airport / Griggs, Steven ; Howarth, David

Howarth, David	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

This article assesses the character, role and outcomes of the Airports Commission. Analysing its workings from September 2012, it evaluates the final recommendations and then charts their subsequent public reception. The article claims that the Airports Commission's endeavours to depoliticise aviation by using ‘reasonable’ methods and impartial judgements—often embodied in Howard Davies himself—have been met with local resistance and political opposition, focussed on the proposal to expand either Heathrow or Gatwick. It exposes how the recourse to expert commissions offers only temporary respite for government responsibility and accountability in the making of hard decisions. It concludes that the inability to secure a binding and acceptable agreement does not just reside at the door of the Airports Commission, but rests also on the failures of political leadership and the ‘missed opportunity’ to articulate a sustainable vision for aviation after the 2010 moratorium on airport expansion in the south‐east of England.

Key Words

Political Leadership ; Heathrow Airport ; Airports Commission

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ID: 161685

So Close, but so Far? The Davies Commission and the Contested Politics of UK Airport Expansion / Griggs, Steven ; Howarth, David

Howarth, David	Journal Article
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Aviation expansion and the construction of a third runway at Heathrow airport is firmly back on the political agenda. Yet, the stark fact remains that a growing list of British governments has been unable to engineer a partial or temporary policy settlement in aviation. In exploring the challenges of reaching such a settlement, this article characterises the shifting and contested political and policy contexts of UK aviation. It begins by exploring the ‘wicked issue’ of aviation expansion before foregrounding how the politics of air travel is riven by competing policy frames, fragmented governance and the absence of gatekeepers. It argues that the Davies Commission and its efforts to remove aviation from the domain of partisan politics provided little more than a temporary respite for government. It thus concludes by questioning whether the May government's expansion proposals will succeed this time around, outlining how the contributions in this collection address the themes and issues of this overriding policy puzzle.

Key Words

Davies Commission ; Contested Politics ; UK Airport Expansion

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