Reports based on recent flight records say Taylor Swift's private jet may have produced more carbon in about three months than the entire 2024 legs of the Eras Tour did.
What happened?
Figures reported by International Business Times UK from aviation tracking service JetSpy say Swift's Dassault Falcon 7X returned to service in early March and has since flown 81 times, spending 169 hours airborne.
The aircraft reportedly burned about 60,560 gallons of fuel and generated roughly 639 tons of carbon pollution. That likely exceeds the roughly 557 tons associated with the entire 2024 stretch of the Eras Tour, as calculated by the IB Times.
The plane's activity rose sharply over the spring, going from four flights in March to 19 in April. It also had an average of one flight per day in May. Some of those flights reportedly allowed Swift to appear in Los Angeles and New York within a day of each other.
Why is private air travel concerning?
Critics say the issue goes well beyond one celebrity because private aviation is among the dirtiest forms of travel.
Chuck Collins, who directs the Institute for Policy Studies' Program on Inequality and the Common Good, described it as "the least defensible, most irresponsible form of transportation from a global pollution point of view." Collins also argued that "super emitters" have an outsized responsibility to cut their travel pollution, according to the IB Times.
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The effects of that pollution are not limited to the people doing the flying. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and higher insurance and food costs affect communities everywhere, especially those with the fewest resources to adapt.
Daniel Sitompul, a researcher with the International Council on Clean Transportation, told the Daily Mail that the reported total of 639 tons was "pretty high" and "definitely above average," according to the IB Times. He also cited research suggesting that most private-jet routes could instead be served by direct commercial flights, cutting pollution by roughly 70%.
What are people saying?
The IB Times noted that Swift's representatives have previously said that she "regularly loans" the aircraft to others and that it is "blatantly incorrect" to attribute every flight directly to her.
Collins was especially blunt in his response, dismissing carbon offsets as "symbolic, or greenwashing at best." He argued, "We have to change our behaviour, and it means changing behaviour, not paying for offsets."
"If [Swift] made a decision to give up the jet, it would have a huge cultural impact," Collins said. "We love your music. Park the jet."
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