Airlines are experiencing what they would no doubt call turbulence. The downturn causes companies to economise on flights, tourists to stay at home and cargo volumes to drop. Antonio Tajani, the European Union transport commissioner, wants to prevent a hard landing by suspending the requirement that airlines use their landing slots at least 80 per cent of the time. He should withdraw his proposal. The byzantine system of managing landing slots needs reform, but a suspension makes matters even worse.

The business of slots is so complex as to make airfare pricing look simple. Important airports in Europe are slot-constrained, meaning that there are not enough slots to meet travellers’ demands for flights. London Heathrow is an extreme case, but others, such as Paris Orly and Milan Linate, also see excess demand at peak time.