Flight shame: face it and travel differently
Last time I travelled by plane was October 2019, from Paris to Barcelona. During one of those many videocalls that rescued us in the midst of the lockdown, a friend asked me “What do you think about flight shame?”.
First of all, and this might sound familiar for some people, I had to look up for the exact definition: flight shame refers to the feeling of air travellers who are aware of the climate-damaging consequences of their journey, but still fly and feel ashamed of it. Second, I am a very analytical person, so I have tried to calculate my flight impact to move from a buttery croissant in Paris to a fairly intense nightlife in Barcelona.
Credits to Kipper Williams
I needed to look at numbers because flying is a highly controversial topic in climate debate and I wanted to get my own view.
First, there is a profound disconnection between the impact of flight in our personal and collective carbon emissions.
Air travel dominates the individual carbon footprint of a frequent traveler but it only accounts for 2.5% of global CO2 emissions. This is because there are large inequalities in how much people fly – many do not, or cannot afford to, fly at all.
Second, the aviation industry is the fastest growing contributor to climate change.
Carbon emissions from airplanes are projected to be a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2050, accounting for 25% of global GHGs.
Focusing on the maths, I have considered three elements: the price, the time, the emissions. On the route Paris-Barcelona, you can easily find a flight for 30 € while travelling by train costs more than 100 €. Is it travelling by plane faster? Yes, but if we factor in the time it takes to go to the airport, getting parking near to your terminal (which is also expensive!) and waiting for boarding– then it only adds up to 90 minutes difference. Is it better for the environment? No, air travel is much more polluting than train. In this case, the plane generates 238 kg CO2e while train only takes up 11 kg CO2e.
CO2e Paris-Barcelona (in Kg)
Back to my friend’s question, now I feel slightly ashamed of my flight from Paris to Barcelona and I will probably take a train next time. With this, I am not saying “always a train”. I am not a radical who will not fly at all, but I am way more conscious of the alternatives I can opt for. If you also still consider to occasionally watching towns grow smaller and disappear until they are just little specks on earth below, remember these four tips that can make our planet a bit better:
pack smart - the lighter, the better;
choose low-cost carriers wisely - cheapest doesn’t always mean best;
avoid stop-over – it covers a shorter distance and avoids two or more highly polluting take-offs;
fly economy – a business class flight can be up to three times more polluting than one in economy just due to the seat size (and your wallet will be happy too).
After 20 months without spending a single second in the sky, I believe being trapped in a metal tube, feeling every bump, and worrying about what might happen next in case of turbulence will no longer be my first option. And if you ever find yourself in Switzerland, I recommend even more staying on the ground. Swiss trains are luxurious, always on time and - trust me - you will not forget the scenery.
