Gwyneth Dunwoody has developed a reputation as a forthright and, on occasion, outspoken critic of government policy which, in recent weeks has seen her sacked and then reinstated as Chairman of the Commons Transport Select Committee. She talked to Gideon Ewers about her thoughts on the industry's future.

Gwyneth Dunwoody has a reputation as one of the more 'direct' members of the Commons and our meeting did nothing to dispel that image. Immediately, she called the existing situation "a ridiculous non-policy based on the weird idea that markets could decide everything" and declared the time for "a cohesive policy on air transport long overdue". Turning to the challenge faced by the government as it develops the White Paper, Dunwoody said that government faces the spectre of a repeat of the decline of the maritime industry. "If they don't make the right decisions now, then air transport will go the way of shipping. And it is far too valuable a commodity to waste." Quantifying her remarks, Dunwoody said that by her reckoning every 100ft of runway equated to about 1,000 jobs.

Turning to the White Paper itself, Dunwoody was adamant that it should be a truly co-ordinated approach which doesn't leave airports outside the South East in a vacuum of development. Citing the growth of Manchester as a hub as an example, Dunwoody said that while the London airports are a vital cog in the country's infrastructure, their development should not be at the expense of those airports elsewhere which can develop intercontinental routes in their own right.

Another runway for the SE essential

Returning to her theme that air transport must not be allowed to decline as did shipping in the 60s and 70s, Dunwoody said that the government would have to grasp the nettle and include plans for another runway for London.

"Even with T5, there is going to be a capacity shortfall at London's airports. There are airlines that want to fly there and we risk that traffic choosing to overfly the UK to other airports in Europe if we cannot meet that need."

Dunwoody went on to say that she believed the main obstacle to such a runway would be the legal questions, not only in assigning values to any properties acquired through compulsory purchase but also for compensation for those home owners whose properties may decline in value because of the new runway.

Single European Sky 'absurd'

On the subject of a single European sky for upper airspace Dunwoody was adamant: "It sounds marvellous but the problem is it simply will not work. There are those within the EU who will use it as leverage to extract what they want on other issues." On the subject of a transatlantic open sky, Dunwoody is equally dismissive: "Of course I'm in favour of a liberalised market with true open skies on the Atlantic, but this isn't the way to achieve it. What will happen is that we would be so busy fighting among ourselves that we wouldn't notice what the other side of the table were up to and you can guess who'll come out the better as a result." Dunwoody went on to explain that the seat of the problem is US protectionism in its home market, which runs counter to what the country says it espouses, arguing that in this aspect the air transport market is "40 years out of date".

Air transport needs to get its house in order

Turning to the future, Dunwoody has more straight talking in mind: "Air transport is vital to this country as an island nation, and it is essential that we ensure the resource is not squandered. The government does appear now to want to do something about it," she said, "but it is also up the industry itself to decide where it wants to be in 10, 20 or 30 years and stop wittering about medium-term problems which can and will be overcome."