Flight Shaming
Flight Shaming: The aviation industry is starting to feel the heat of the sustainability movement.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. - Mark Twain
Before the internet, travel was the best way to connect the world, expand the global economy, get face time with a client, and interact with far-away loved ones. Air travel specifically has expanded our horizons, pocketbooks, and minds.
But has this greater connectedness come at a cost?
One round-trip ticket from New York to London is responsible for the same amount of emissions as heating a house in Europe for an entire year. There are roughly 2,500 of those trips occurring every single day. Compared to 2005, international aviation emissions will have increased almost 70% by next year. Overnight and two-day shipping demands are rising with online marketplace awareness, and leisure travel shows no signs of stopping.
Considering the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report gave us a decade or two to get this whole “climate change” thing under control, we should probably evaluate the effect that air travel has on our environment.
Well in Europe, flying is getting a bad rap.
In 2017, Swedish singer Staffan Lindberg, with the support of five fellow celebrities, wrote an article proclaiming that he and his co-signers were giving up air travel for the sake of the environment. Then Bjorn Ferry, a well-known Winter Olympian from Sweden, declared that he would no longer travel for press events, because the fate of his sport was dependent on climate action.
If you haven’t heard of those two guys, you’re not alone. Neither one of them made a splash in international news for their decisions.
Then Greta Thunberg happened. In August of 2018 she staged a one-woman climate protest from school on the steps of the Swedish Parliament. Her protest went viral, and by September of this year, she was joined by millions of people - mostly students - protesting for the future of our planet.
Thunberg made international news this September when she traveled to the UN Climate Summit in New York by way of a two-week, zero-emission yacht trip where she delivered a passionate speech about climate change and the inaction of major players on the world stage.
And that’s how we got “flygskam” (pronounced fleeg-skahm): Flying Shame.
Unlike a lot of hashtags, this looks like more than a briefly trending topic. Air travel in Sweden dipped in the first six months of 2019 by almost 4% while train travel rose by 40% in the area. Klarna Bank in Sweden is decreasing the amount of required business flights, and they’re just one of many companies emphasizing less travel for its employees.
Other European countries are seeing the effects of flygskam, too. A German political party called “The Greens” focuses on sustainability and is calling for increased focus on rail investment with the goal of making domestic air travel “obsolete.” The country also plans to increase taxes for air travel and decrease taxes for rail transportation. One newspaper in Denmark is aiming to quit flying within the country altogether by emphasizing rail travel for their journalists and, if a flight does need to be taken, offsetting the emissions of the trip (for those who aren't hip to environmental lingo, "offsetting" is donating to an organization or cause that is fighting climate change proportionate to the emissions that your flight will generate). France is introducing an “eco-tax” on all flights and using the money collected from that tax to fund more environmentally-friendly transportation modes.
According to one survey, 20% of respondents cited flight shaming as the reason they reduced the number of flights they took this past year. That study included travelers from the United States, England, France and Germany. And the interesting part is that a higher percentage of Americans said they were reducing their air miles than Brits!
To its credit, the flying industry as a whole has halved its per-plane carbon emissions since the 90s and hopes to keep cutting. The aviation lobby, International Air Transport Association (IATA), is actually planning on launching a “very, very big campaign” to highlight past, present, and future efforts to reduce emissions. Air France and British Airways will start offering the option of offsetting the emissions of your trip when you buy a ticket in 2020. KLM Airlines has even launched an awareness campaign to make travelers more aware of their travel carbon footprint, encouraging them to pack lighter and even use the train when possible.
While the industry improvements are great, proponents of the movement stress that it isn't so much about feeling the negative emotion of shame as it is about feel positively about making a change that’s good for the Earth.
How much of a change are you making, though? Especially here in America. Our rail system is nowhere near the size and quality of Europe. For many Americans, flying is not only the quick and efficient option, but it’s the only option. And considering the aviation industry is only responsible for 2.5% of carbon emissions, why not focus on other industries with a larger footprint, like the meat industry or fashion industry?
In reality, not even 20% of the world’s population has ever flown on a plane. In America, a small percentage (12%) are frequent flyers that account for 67% of flight emissions. So while the flygskam movement is taking off all over the world, it’s that small portion of the population that it should be aimed at.
But every little bit helps, right? There’s no use in playing “what-about-ism” with industry carbon footprints. Almost every industry could use a healthy dose of sustainability, so maybe a little PR pressure will help. However, the movement is moot if it lacks widespread support because there’s an inherent tipping point. If you choose to drive home instead of fly, that flight will still depart without you. In that case, you’ve actually increased total carbon emissions into the environment, because you’ve added a car on the road in addition to the flight. But when enough people choose a train ride or to drive in their electric car or even choose a stay-cation over a Caribbean resort, flights will start to be cancelled, and the aviation industry’s carbon footprint will start to decrease.
While it’s true that air travel only accounts for 2.5% of carbon emissions, that doesn’t mean air travel is free of other emissions, like sulfur compounds, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and water vapor in the contrails of a plane. Because of the altitude at which these pollutants are released, their effects are heightened - albeit shorter.
So maybe you should consider flying less. But you don’t have to confine yourself to a 10-mile radius for the rest of your life. Even limiting your flight load to one a year can make a big difference. When you do fly, offset the emissions of your trip, and pick the most direct route rather than the cheapest. Short flights are the most carbon-intensive, because the majority of emissions are released during take off and landing; planes are a lot more fuel-efficient at cruising altitude (but extremely long flights require extra fuel, which decreases efficiency. Just a fun FYI: the ideal fuel-efficient flight is about 2,600 miles). Plan vacations to areas with a robust rail system or get to know the fly-over areas around your town.
Try to get business done over phone or webcam conference when possible. Many climate activists are giving keynote speeches over video now! Some organizations are pushing for climate rerouting, where planes would be routed around areas with certain atmospheric conditions that would magnify the effects of emissions (have fun coordinating climate routes in international airspace!).
Whatever form it takes, sustainable reform is necessary in aviation, like most industries. Will it be because you chose to stick to one flight a year? Probably not. Will flyskgam cross the proverbial pond and start to affect air travel in the good ol’ U.S. of A? Actually...maybe! Amtrak is poised to post a profit next year for the first time ever! So if you have to fly, don’t worry too much about it. But if you want to do what (admittedly little) you can to curb the effects of climate change, I’ll see you on the train.