Carbon Impact of Celebrity Private Jets

By Ethan Bingemann.

Private air travel—much like taking a personal car instead of public transportation—is much more expensive and environmentally damaging. Private planes are 14 times more polluting per person than commercial air travel [1]. Additionally, private jets cost anywhere from 2000-11,000 dollars per hour [2] as compared to an average of 80-110 dollars per hour for commercial flights [3] depending on company, popularity and distance. There are also only .03 fatalities versus .198 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours in commercial versus private flights [4].

So why would anyone fly privately?

There are 3 main reasons: comfort, speed and constant travel. Private jets obviously have more space and more of an environment for socialization. They are also faster to board and plan. If someone owns a private aircraft, they can quickly get to where they need to be without having to go through the hassle of searching for tickets and connecting flights. Finally, some people often travel across the country, and, they argue, this necessitates private air travel. That being said, it is easy to understand why celebrities make up a large portion of those who use private air travel.

Celebrities, business professionals and other wealthy individuals are the most common users of private jets. The celebrities that used private jets the most (in order) in 2022 were Taylor Swift, Floyd Mayweather, Jay-Z, Alex Rodrigez, Blake Shelton, Steven Spielberg, Mark Wahlberg, Oprah Winfrey and Travis Scott [5].

This article will focus primarily on Taylor Swift because of her being the center of recent controversy.

Some people have jumped to call these users of private jets climate criminals, while others have quickly jumped to the defense of their favorite celebrities. Others still refuse to take personal climate responsibility for themselves and blame big corporations (more on that in future articles).

The average person in the United States emits 16 tons annually [6] compared to Taylor Swift’s 8,293 tons [7] (518 times as much). Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian have been under scrutiny in the past for taking 20-minute flights. These actions have led many to argue that they need to fix their habits and take more climate accountability. They also argue that the privilege of having money does not allow them to not care about our planet.

Fans of these celebrities quickly jump to their defense with claims that it is necessary for safety. Making assertions that these celebrities would not be safe with crazed fans. Additionally, with celebrities like Taylor Swift’s busy schedule they cannot afford to get sick on public planes. It is impossible to ignore Swift’s 146 dates of performances for her Eras Tour. It is hard to say this tour would or would not have been possible if she did not make use of a private jet. Taylor Swift also made a statement about not being responsible for all 103 trips because she would lend her plane to friends.

What do you think?

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/30/private-jet-flights-in-europe-soar-to-record-levels-stoking-climate-fears.html#:~:text=Data%20from%20the%20non%2Dgovernmental,metric%20tons%20of%20carbon%20dioxide.

[2] https://www.thestreet.com/travel/want-a-private-jet-here-is-how-much-one-will-actually-cost-you#:~:text=A%20typical%20private%20jet%20charter,making%20each%20seat%20worth%20%242%2C500.

[3] https://gillespie411.wordpress.com/2017/01/26/the-hourly-cost-of-air-travel/#:~:text=The%20quick%20answer%3A%20About%20%2480,hour%20for%20long%20haul%20flights

[4] https://simpleflying.com/private-jet-crashes-per-year-2023/#:~:text=Only%20205%20of%20the%201%2C085,accidents%20per%20100%2C000%20flight%20hours.

[5] https://travelnoire.com/top-10-celebrities-with-the-most-private-jet-co2-emissions

[6] https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/#:~:text=A%20carbon%20footprint%20is%20the,is%20closer%20to%204%20tons.

[7] https://www.forbes.com/sites/prakashdolsak/2023/08/02/taylor-swift-and-climate-change-is-the-youth-shaking-off-or-embracing-carbon-intensive-lifestyles/?sh=6cf68a1d5c08

[8] https://businesstravelerusa.com/news/private-jet-travel-demand-drops-after-great-pandemic-surge/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20April%20Argus,down%204.7%25%20from%20March%202023.

[9] https://www.utahbusiness.com/celebrity-climate-criminals/

[10] https://thecentraltrend.com/129947/opinion/with-increasing-carbon-emissions-celebrities-need-to-start-taking-accountability/

[11] https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/08/02/taylor-swift-private-jet/#:~:text=Swift%20released%20a%20statement%20saying,for%2071%25%20of%20carbon%20emissions.