Aviation Sustainability: You Could Be the Next Taylor Swift

In the article, Just Plane Wrong: Celebs with the Worst Private Jet Co2 Emissions, published by the Yard Group, Yard's digital team takes a deep dive into just how much celebrities' flights impact the environment.  Topping their list of the biggest celebrity CO2 polluters was Ms. Taylor Swift who owns a 1990 Dassault Falcon 900.

According to the article, published on July 29, 2022, Ms. Swift had flown her private jet 383.09 hours since the beginning of the year, emitting 8,293.54 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere—1,184.8 times more than the average person's total annual emissions.

Before we go much further, let me emphasize two points. First, Ms. Swift is the CEO of a global brand, like Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company, or Amazon, with commitments around the world. Like these companies, Ms. Swift uses her aircraft to save time, visit multiple cities in a day, reduce touchpoints, and increase security.  But unlike these companies, Ms. Swift is not just the CEO, she is also the brand, recognized by millions of people around the world.

Secondly, the Yard Group’s data is patently wrong. Their reporting of aircraft hours and CO2 emission levels are at best an editorial error which demands a public correction and an apology to those whom they may have offended.

The story was so good that no one even bothered to check the facts.

Shortly after the article was published, a spokesperson for Ms. Swift told TMZ, “Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals. To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.”  The media went crazy, criticizing Ms. Swift as a “climate denier” and likening her to a “climate criminal.” Her fans took to Facebook and Twitter to call her out for her refusal to take accountability. Even Fox News got a piece of the action. The story was so good no one even bothered to check the facts.

According to public records, from January 1, 2022, to July 31, 2022, Ms. Swift’s aircraft flew 170.3 hours which used approximately 56,199 gallons of jet fuel.  The Falcon 900 burns about 330 gallons of jet fuel per hour (440 the first hour and 280 for subsequent hours) which incidentally is 37% percent more fuel efficient then a Gulfstream GV and 41% percent more fuel efficient then a Bombardier Global Express, it’s two closest competitors. 

Knowing the total gallons burned in the period, it’s easy to calculate CO2 emissions.  Take the total gallons burned and multiply by 6.8 which is the weight of the jet fuel in pounds.  Next, divide the total pounds by 2204.62 to get the weight of the fuel in metric tonnes.  Multiply the metric tonnes by 3.16 which is the fuel conversion factor of jet fuel, yielding 547.76 metric tonnes—a far cry from the 8,293.54 tonnes that the Yard Group claimed.

This calculation is the recommended method by the Federal Aviation Administration in their notice, CORSIA Monitoring, Reporting & Verification Program, Appendix B(A)(iv), Page 13, dated 3/16/2019.  This program is used by commercial airlines to track CO2 emissions on international flights.

The problem is that not many people understand the data well enough to calculate the CO2 emissions of a private jet—certainly not The Yard Group, not Ms. Swift’s management team, and not the thousands of climate activists that tweeted, posted, and authored articles about her indiscretions.

I’m sure given the chance, Ms. Swift and her management team would welcome the opportunity to walk back that statement. But what should they have said? Should they have just ignored the criticism?  How would your flight department respond? Here are 5 steps every flight department can take to reduce their carbon footprint and reach a goal of sustainability.

Step 1: Measure Your Footprint

Gather your fuel receipts for the past 90 days and add the gallons of jet fuel you have purchased for the period.  Use the method above to measure the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.  Using total gallons purchased is the easiest method to calculate CO2 emissions since most flight departments already collect this data for accounting purposes. 

Step 2: Create a Roadmap

As you begin to see your impact on the environment ask yourself how can you do this better?  What steps could you take over the next 4-8 periods that would positively impact the numbers?  What goals could you set for lowering your CO2 emissions? You may wish to trend your data to show progress toward your goals.  You can do this by dividing CO2 emission by flight hours to get emissions per hour—normalizing variations in the number of trips and flight times for the period.

Step 3: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

As you create your roadmap look for ways to reduce your footprint. There are dozens of little things you can do to reduce the amount of fuel your aircraft is burning, here are a couple of ideas to consider:

• Reduce the weight of the aircraft—Take an inventory of all the cabin items you carry around just in case—China, stemware, blankets, mattresses, carpet runners, fly-away kits.  Are these items required on every flight?
• Reduce fuel reserves whenever possible—Safety always comes first but carrying extra reserve fuel or tankering to avoid high fuel prices at your destination comes at a cost to the environment.
• Practice good fuel management—An aircraft gets lighter and faster as it burns off fuel.  Trim the engines to maintain a constant speed during cruise.
• Fly at economy cruise speed—Fuel burn is not linear—it takes more fuel to maintain higher Mach speeds.
• Reduce or limit ferry and training flights when possible.
• Optimize routes for best fuel economy—Don’t just accept the default ATC routes. Most flight planning programs allow you to optimize routes for fuel efficiency.
• Have your air-data system checked every year—minor air data errors in Mach Speed can have huge consequences in fuel burn especially in older aircraft.
• Use Sustainable Aviation Fuel—while sustainable aviation fuel doesn’t directly lower CO2 emissions, studies show that it does benefit the environment by lowering CO2 due to life-cycle improvements.
• Consider installing winglets on older, less efficient aircraft.  They provide upwards of 6% percent fuel efficiency and increase the resale value of the aircraft.

Step 4: Purchase carbon offsets for the emissions that can’t be reduced directly

Purchasing carbon offsets for emissions that can’t be reduced finance projects around the globe that remove or reduce CO2 in the air.  Choose emission reduction projects that adhere to the highest environmental standards (GoldStandard.org) and hold additional certifications such as Climate Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) and Social Carbon.  View carbon offsets not as a permanent solution but rather a temporary tool which allows you to take full responsibility for the impact of your private jet until new technology is available to solve the problem.

Note that jet aircraft contribute to greenhouse gas emissions in several different ways. Carbon emissions make up only about 30% percent of the total greenhouse emissions.  The other 70% comes from nitrous oxide, water vapor and other aerosols that form contrails and make the atmosphere more translucent.  If you want to offset your total greenhouse emissions, just multiply your carbon footprint by 300% percent.

Carbon offsets currently cost about $14.00 per metric tonne so purchasing them to offset an average private jet flight would cost about $100.00—Probably less than the catering bill.

The private aviation industry is a very small contributor to the global CO2 footprint. But that’s not a good enough reason to do nothing.

Step 5: Communicate and Lead

It’s your responsibility to communicate and lead your team forward. Prepare a presentation that explains how aircraft contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and documents the CO2 that your aircraft produces. Outline the steps that your flight department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions and the carbon offset program you have in place to make your aircraft emissions neutral.  Draft a statement of responsibility that can be used to answer climate concerns regarding the use of your aircraft.

If you need some help putting this presentation together, take a look at Vista Jet’s Sustainability in Aviation whitepaper which can be downloaded from their website.  It’s well written and one of the most comprehensive programs out there. Thomas Flohr and his team have done a great job putting this presentation together.

The Way Forward

There will be a day when technology eliminates the need to burn fossil fuels in aviation. Designs for electric-hybrid aircraft and hydrogen propulsion systems are already on the drawing boards, but until that day comes, the aviation industry must take full responsibility for the CO2 emissions it produces.

The private aviation industry is a very small contributor to the global CO2 footprint.  Private aviation produces about 17.2 million metric tonnes (vs. 43.5 billion) of CO2 annually—0.04% of all CO2 emissions globally. But that’s not a good enough reason to do nothing.

The Fortune 500 companies and climate evangelists that use these aircraft have a special role to play in championing environmental concerns and, quite frankly, the cost of offsetting your aircraft’s emissions is not worth the damage to your reputation and brand when your shareholders lose faith in you—Just ask Taylor Swift.