Brexit plane, in search of the jet stream, is flying in a storm in circles

By George ILIEV 
Brexit Metaphor No 79. 

Plane pilots often fly through turbulence in order to join a jet stream: one of four fast-flowing air currents in the atmosphere (two at polar and two at sub-tropical latitudes). Flying in the jet stream helps speed up the plane when flying west to east. However, jet streams are rivers of air several-hundred-km wide that often meander and change course, so they are not a fixture easy to find for a pilot. Turbulence forms along the edges of the jet streams, so a plane needs to endure some turbulence to reach it. Air turbulence also accompanies storms, but planes avoid storms for the obvious reasons.

Brexit was supposed to take the British plane out of the stable and calm air of the EU and into a fast-moving trans-continental jet stream, with some minor turbulence along the way. However, two issues have emerged since the flight started in 2016:

1) Storm: The turbulence has been constant and getting worse in the last 2.5 years but no jet stream has been reached yet, which makes one doubt if the plane is not merely flying in circles in a gigantic storm.

2) Direction: If a jet stream is eventually reached, the plane pilots are not sure if they will be flying with or against the direction of the wind. They are not even sure which way the jet stream itself is blowing.

For the time being, the pilot keeps announcing to the passengers that the jet stream is in sight, "strong and stable". Yet the pilot's visions of a jet stream are starting to sound to the passengers more and more like "jest" & "dream".

Jet stream over the Pacific in green; and shortest flight route in red
(Source: Wikipedia)

---
Notes:
1. Timeline: This article is part of a series of original #BrexitMetaphors published daily. A total of 79 have been posted so far and another 82 Brexit Metaphors will be published every day until the planned Brexit date of March 29, 2019.
2. Disclosure: The author has a master's degree in European Integration. He also thinks he knows a bit about business, economics, entrepreneurship, China, history, geography, nature, science and Rubik Cubes.
3. Invitation: If you'd like to contribute to the debate, please leave a comment below or re-tweet the blogpost link.
4. Sign-up: I would be thrilled if you signed up to receive my blog daily by entering your email address in the blank in the top right-hand corner of this page.
5. Thank you for being here!