Privilege

Why Frequent Flyer Programs Have To Go

Stay Grounded recently published a sharp expose on Frequent Flyer Programs, a topic at the heart of the Flight Free Campaign. We ask people to pledge Flight Free to reduce emissions, change the fossil fuel norm, and support strong climate policy. Frequent Flyer programs do just the opposite- they increase air travel and global warming emissions, they normalize and reward climate destruction, and are an enormous public subsidy to airlines that no one voted for. Policy to ban frequent flyer programs and/or eliminate the regressive credit card banking mechanism that feeds these airline programs are vital to social justice and fossil fuel de-growth.

,

Podcast from Flight Free UK: Climate, Social and Racial Justice

,

A great conversation between horticulturalist Poppy Okotcha, Black Geographers founder Francisca Rockey and Flight Free UK team members Sunita Soundur and Armelle Ferguson on privilege, climate justice, the conflict between wanting to see your family abroad and the actual worry that your homeland will disappear into the ocean and much much more. A must-listen, if ever there was one.

"Elite Status - Global Inequalities in Flying" - Report from We Are Possible

“When it comes to climate change, air travel is a uniquely damaging behaviour, resulting in more emissions per hour than any other activity bar starting forest fires. This paper shows that it is also uniquely iniquitous. Everybody eats. But only the privileged few fly.”

Tossing Out the Bucket List

Ellen Petry Leanse, an author, teacher and technology pioneer from California, tells the story of why she decided to toss out her bucket list and enjoy the wonders of the world at a distance, rather than traveling to them.

Reflecting on a year with Flight Free USA

For the past year we have been organizing a collective Flight Free action in partnership with 10 Flight Free groups worldwide. By last spring over 25,000 people had pledged (of those, 437 Americans from 30 states) to not fly for 2020 for the sake of the climate - as a way to call on our communities, businesses and government for immediate climate solutions. Then COVID-19 hit.

Musician On the Ground - Emilia Amper

This year has brought me to some important decisions. The biggest one, I think, is that due to the climate crisis I have stopped flying. My last flight was getting home from the US in April 2019, and now I only tour staying on the ground.