Some of these flights are so short they’d need a rapper or an auctioneer for in-flight announcements.
When Instagram’s most-followed woman Kylie Jenner decided it was a good idea to post a picture of her private jet while Americans were sweltering under a devastating heatwave, it created an online firestorm.
The rich and famous like Jenner, Elon Musk, Drake, Kenny Chesney and Floyd Mayweather have come under a torrent of criticism over taking their private jets for a spin for super-short flights—carbon emissions notwithstanding.
Jet tracking
And Twitter account @CelebJets, which automatically tracks movements of celebrity aircraft, has only intensified the scrutiny.
Jenner routinely uses her private jet for trips that are under 15 minutes. Rapper Drake, who owns the $185 million jet “Air Drake”, and his friends take multiple flights by his private jet from Hamilton, Ontario, to Toronto—a trip that takes roughly an hour by car and 15 to 18 minutes by plane.
Carbon footprint
Air Drake reportedly emitted five tons of carbon during one 18-minute flight from Hamilton to Toronto. For reference, the average annual carbon emissions for a single person is around four tons.
Private aircraft emit 33 million tons of greenhouse gasses and are five to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes because they carry so few passengers, The Guardian reports.
Will someone please explain the concept of climate change to them?