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2001 has been a momentous year, alas not always for positive reasons. The use of civilian aircraft with innocent passengers on board as weapons of war was a new item in an already long list of evidence of the depths to which human barbarity can descend. September 11th has already had major specific consequences for us in the world air sports movement, quite apart from the general effects on the international community as a whole. We face new air traffic restrictions, public suspicion of aircraft flying near inhabited areas, increased insurance premiums, and official restrictions on, or reluctance to travel to FAI contests. But as the year comes to an end, there are good reasons for us to be optimistic. If there is a slow-down in the previously projected massive growth of the airline industry, this should allow a bit more breathing space for fairer airspace rules to be negotiated that respect the requirements of all airspace users, including sporting and recreational aviation. If people around the world re-assess their priorities, and wonder where this ever faster-moving, more frantic, productivity-obsessed world is what they really want, perhaps this will give a boost to fascinating sports and leisure activities like our own. If the world becomes an ever more peaceful place (and, paradoxically, this could be what is emerging from the wreckage of the World Trade Centre, as all nations pull together to fight an insidious, but, in the final analysis, weak, common enemy) then more and more young people will be seeking the excitement that a challenging air sport can provide. Since time immemorial the options have been « war or circuses ». Let's hope we are entering an era of aerial circuses. Never before have the words of the FAI constitution seemed more appropriate : we seek to convince the world of «…the essentially international spirit of aeronautics, as a powerful instrument for bringing all people closer in mutual understanding and friendship regardless of political, racial or religious considerations, thereby helping to create international good will and thus build a better and more peaceful world. » On behalf of us all in the FAI Secretariat, I offer best seasonal wishes to you and your families and friends, wherever you may be, and ask that we all try, in 2002, to translate this ideal into reality.
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