Aviation must market itself better if it is to have any hope of a brighter future, a member of the Transport Select Committee has said.
Kwasi Kwarteng, MP for Spelthorne, said aviation is failing to win over support at government level, at a time when the future of the industry in the UK is under threat.
Speaking at the Guild of Travel Management Companies' (GTMC) annual autumn conference in London, the Tory minister said: “The case for aviation has to be made again.”
He accused the industry of being “complacent” in recent years.
Kwarteng spoke of his interest in aviation as stemming from his Spelthorne seat, which is directly affected by the success of Heathrow as a large proportion of his constituents work there.
“To many of us in the House of Commons it is obvious that aviation improves the economic prosperity of a country,” he said, but not all ministers agree.
“The aviation industry has failed to make the argument that aviation is good for the economy... To the swing voter it is not obvious.”
Kwarteng warned, however, that it was not the job of politicians to lobby for change, but the industry itself.
He praised the work of the GTMC in creating a unified industry voice, but said more had to be done.
“The industry has to make its own case,” said Kwarteng, adding that the current political and economic uncertainty mean the government is “open” to discussions on many topics.
“It's a great time for debate,” he said, adding that the arguments must be set out now, in preparation for the next round of elections in 2015.