Travelers or refugees?

“Several years ago I half-jokingly remarked in a column that the then secretary general needed to create a permanent post for a secretary of transport. Pulling together a variety of international agencies, this post would address everything from environmental issues to passenger rights and take a strategic view about the mass movement of people and goods around the planet….In the months to come tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people across the Northern Hemisphere will be mobilizing for some form of summer vacation. Many will be first-time travelers, many more will be unfamiliar with the changing landscape of what is supposed to pass for civil aviation. The impact that such a mass movement will have on everything from potential World Heritage sites to a fragile environment to creaking road, rail and air networks is enormous.” - Tyler Brule, International Herald Tribune

Brule compares the effects of the annual summer migration of travelers to a refugee crisis and traveler’s conditions to those of refugees. I’m no huge fan of the UN, but Tyler Brule’s point that the world’s travelers need help — from the UN in his opinion — is well taken. The tangle of security regulations and widely-varying quality of airline service are serious issues. One hopes that market forces and informed consumers will eventually sort things out. I’m doubtful that a world body will do a better job regulating the travel system than our national governments do.