A recent report from UK-based nonprofit
Possible has found that achieving lifetime
membership status in an airline’s frequent flyer program (FFP) could require
emitting more than 1,800 tonnes of greenhouse gases per person — which is 34
times our lifetime carbon budget.
Pointless: The climate impact of frequent flyer status
included research conducted on FFPs offered by airlines such as British
Airways and Virgin Atlantic showed that flying enough to qualify for
different levels of membership requires carbon emissions at least seven times
higher and as much as 112 times higher than the average UK air travel footprint
of 0.83 tonnes of CO2e each year.
The highest level of annual membership required flights emitting 92.8 tonnes of
CO2e each year. That’s the equivalent of putting more than 40 cars on the road.
Possible’s analysis also found that frequent flyer programs are a key part of
airlines’ business model — as they drive ticket sales and incentivize customers
to pay for the most carbon-intensive seating options in business or first class,
and to fly more than they otherwise would.
While the aviation industry did a nosedive during the pandemic, which spiraled
into a flight-shaming
movement
and a rise in flight-free travel
options,
air travel still plays a vital role in connecting people and driving the global
economy; and the industry contributes roughly 2 percent of total global
greenhouse gas emissions
(GHGs). A growing number of industry initiatives and collaborations are emerging
to minimize the carbon footprint of every aspect of air travel — from
alternative fuels and propulsion
technologies
to
airports
themselves — but it will be years before sustainable, new solutions are ready to
fly at scale.
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In the meantime, Possible is calling for an immediate end to the offering of
frequent flyer programs by airlines operating in the UK, along with the
introduction of the antithesis of a FFP — a frequent flyer levy, with
which each additional flight over a determined period of time (e.g. a year)
would incur a higher levy — with the aim that air travel would becoming
increasingly cost-prohibitive even for the wealthiest frequent flyers, while
flying infrequently remains affordable
The nonprofit proposes taxes on kerosene and jet fuel should also be introduced
to help reflect the climate damage caused by aviation emissions. Measures such
as these would help to reduce excessive, wasteful consumption of high-carbon
travel by a small group of people and more accurately reflect the real cost of
flying for our climate.
“Frequent flyer reward programs are sending emissions soaring in the wrong
direction,” said Alethea
Warrington, senior
campaigner at Possible. “Airlines are incentivizing a small group of incredibly
frequent flyers to take flights they don’t even want, just to get points — while
people around the world pay the real price, as they face dangerous
heatwaves
and out-of-control
wildfires.
Airlines need to end this irresponsible behavior and stop awarding points for
pollution.”
As the report asserts, schemes that encourage people to fly further, more often
and in the most carbon-inefficient seats are antithetical to the culture and
policies that we need to limit aviation emissions.
Pointless was a quick follow-up to Possible’s Jetting Away with It
report,
released in July, which highlighted private jets’ outsized role in exacerbating
the climate crisis: It found that flying private can be up to 30 times more
polluting than a standard flight.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that passengers on standard airlines tend to
pay much more tax than someone on a private jet: On commercial flights,
passengers pay an air passenger duty — Possible found that one in five private
jet flights don’t need to pay this at all, and most of the rest only pay the
standard rate (rather than the highest rate, which is used for business class
seats). The report also looked at tax as a proportion of ticket costs and found
that this is also much lower for private jets flights than for ordinary
passengers.
So, not only are private jets much more polluting than standard air travel, they
pay much less in the way of tax. Possible is on a mission to ban
fossil-fuel-powered private jets by 2030 and introduce proper taxes that more
accurately reflect the harm they inflict on the climate.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Sep 8, 2023 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST