Five-Passenger Transatlantic Flight Dubbed ‘Eco-Scandal’

Travel Blog  •  Julia Ross  •  03.07.08 | 7:23 AM ET

imageAmerican Airlines has taken a drubbing from environmentalists for flying only five passengers from Chicago to London aboard a Boeing 777 last month, reports the Telegraph. On Feb. 9, the airline cancelled one of four daily services on the route and rebooked all but five passengers, who wound up on a nearly empty plane, upgraded to business class.  While swilling champagne, each passenger contributed an estimated 43 tons of CO2 to the atmosphere. American says it had no choice; green groups call it “obscene.”

Photo by Cubbie_n_Vegas via Flickr (Creative Commons).

Tags: Air Travel, Eco Travel, News and Briefs

Julia Ross is a Washington, DC-based writer and frequent contributor to World Hum. She has lived in China and Taiwan, where she was a Fulbright scholar and Mandarin student. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Time, Christian Science Monitor, Plenty and other publications. Her essay, Six Degrees of Vietnam, was shortlisted for "The Best American Travel Writing 2009."


8 Comments for Five-Passenger Transatlantic Flight Dubbed ‘Eco-Scandal’

don doty 03.07.08 | 4:27 PM ET

If this worst one of the dumbest trips that they every took. It should be.What a waste of a plane,fuel and the crew for this.Blame some one in mangament for approving this trip. Let them pay for it, if there ever is a next time.REAL DUMB

deana heard 03.07.08 | 4:42 PM ET

Hey, How much CO2 is don doty, and all the others who are complaining about this trip, contributing to the atmosphere just walking around? “They did pay for it” you certainly didn’t. Isn’t there something more positive to discuss??

Evelyn 03.08.08 | 10:14 PM ET

I’m not being “greenly correct” here but I’m very glad that they honored their tickets and put them on a flight.

capn_curmudgeon 03.09.08 | 2:04 PM ET

Of course, the plane was probably full on the way back, or wherever it was headed next. Airlines don’t cancel flights for lack of passengers.

Joe 03.09.08 | 2:46 PM ET

AA should have transferred the pax to another airline.  They may have had to fly the plane for other reasons—like equipment needs—and would have flown it empty.  Ferry flight.

Mary 03.09.08 | 10:58 PM ET

What about Al Gore flying all over the place preaching his go green crap.  Why doesn’t he go after China and all the polluting they do

alex 03.18.08 | 4:44 AM ET

All of you complainers need to realize that passengers are NOT the only things carried on planes.  Planes are routinely filled with cargo as well as passengers.

Dave 03.22.08 | 7:03 PM ET

How can I get a seat on this flight?  Considering all the overcrowded horror that has been airline travel recently this sounds like heaven.  I’m sure the airline was positioning the equipment or they wouldn’t have hesitated to cancel.

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.