[1] Michelle Di Leo, Director is a public affairs practitioner who has also worked for Airport Operators Association[2] and on the 'Freedom To Fly' campaign[3] in 2003 during the lead up to the Aviation White Paper.
The Steering Group consisted of representatives of the major members and was chaired by Toby Nicol, Communications and Corporate Affairs Director at easyJet.
In addition to the above Farmers Own[6] (growers) and the Fresh Produce Consortium[7] (importers), DHL (freight), Nats (air traffic control), Macquarie Group (finance) and Qinetiq (defence) was also members.
[6] The organisation was formally launched late in July with the stated aim of showing that the aviation sector was "taking climate change seriously".
[7] They accused Inuit leader of "apocalyptic green spin" at the official enquiry over the expansion of Stansted Airport[8] and respond the Conservative Party policy of limiting aviation growth[9] and gave their first details off their proposed advertising campaign featuring "No Entry" signs in front of the Taj Mahal and Sydney Opera House [10] In August BAA, a Flying Matters member, applied for the "mother of all injunctions" against the Camp for Climate Action which was to be held near Heathrow airport in August.
At the Labour conference, they sponsored a fringe meeting entitled "going Green" at which Brian Wilson was "taken to task as he defended the growth of airports and spoke against higher taxes".
[30] Flying Matters issued a press release saying that "Stopping new runways would cost half a million new UK jobs"[31] In October 2008 they announced that after discussion with Pret a Manger and Innocent Drinks, they had both changed their public policy with regard to air freight.
[32] In response to a parliamentary vote in October 2008 to approve the Climate Change Bill, committing Britain to slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and for the first time including aviation and shipping into the bill, Michelle Di Leo, director Flying Matters, said it was a "hollow victory" for environmentalists that was both "ineffective and unfair".