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Drawing lines in the sky: The emotional labours of airspace production

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  • Weiqiang Lin

Abstract

This paper takes as its starting point the idea that airspace is not a singular, finished interface for aeromobile activities to take place in. Striated by lines that connect some points rather than others, it is a contested network of vectors that sometimes require additional human inputs for traffic to flow in desired ways. Assuming the view of a globalising city-state in Asia, this paper refers to two sets of empirical evidence to build its case: first, over 100 airline newsletters on the ‘Singapore Girl’ published between 1982 and 2000, and, second, fifteen sets of interviews with air hub development officers working for Singapore. Particular attention is paid to the emotional labours that have been invested by these aviation workers to induce particular, favourable business environments for air traffic to grow in the city-state. In so doing, this paper emphasises the uneven way aerial vectors are distributed across the globe, and highlights how these air-lines have a tendency to bypass (small) states not at the forefront of global aviation. Even for a successful overcomer like Singapore, the reordering of airspace does not come with the latitude of manufacturing a brand new air-scape, but involves the development of innovative counter regimes, people-performed technologies, and tactical solutions in an unequal air world.

Suggested Citation

  • Weiqiang Lin, 2016. "Drawing lines in the sky: The emotional labours of airspace production," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(6), pages 1030-1046, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:48:y:2016:i:6:p:1030-1046
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X15609219
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Budd, Lucy C.S., 2011. "On being aeromobile: airline passengers and the affective experiences of flight," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 1010-1016.
    2. Lin, Weiqiang, 2014. "The politics of flying: aeromobile frictions in a mobile city," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 92-99.
    3. Weiqiang Lin, 2014. "Flying through Ash Clouds: Improvising Aeromobilities in Singapore and Australasia," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 220-237, May.
    4. Victoria Williams & Robert B. Noland & Ralf Toumi, 2003. "Air transport cruise altitude restrictions to minimize contrail formation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 207-219, September.
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