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#more#flights#flying#flight#travel#airlines#still#going#violent#fuel

Discussion (109 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

addaonabout 22 hours ago
This feels like one of those cases where it’s safe to say “history” instead of “recorded history.”
rob74about 22 hours ago
History, as recorded by Flightradar24: "a whopping grand total of 153,359 commercial flights were tracked between 00:00 UTC and 23:59 UTC on July 23, 2026" So I would say it's justified to qualify it. Not sure how Flightradar24's coverage has evolved over time, but it could theoretically be that there were more flights at some point before 2020, but some of them weren't tracked?
bluefirebrandabout 12 hours ago
I think the parents point was that before recorded history we can be pretty sure there weren't airplanes for anyone to take flights on
epolanskiabout 14 hours ago
Minor commercial flights at minor airports? The kind of 20 people flight between two cities in Indonesia not even Indonesians know much?
FireBeyondabout 8 hours ago
One would generally think that even those had ADS-B running.
ameliusabout 22 hours ago
Even history is not safe if you consider the entire universe.
dudefelicianoabout 22 hours ago
Technically history only refers to the parts of the past for which we have written records.
reaperducerabout 13 hours ago
Paleontologists would like to have a word…
sandworm101about 22 hours ago
I dont think they are refering to that. I think it is a reference to all the non-recorded flights happening every day. Maybe there was a day last week with more flying, but it wasnt all recorded.
leaves83829about 15 hours ago
i don't understand how we can be setting new records on airflights at a time when there is a major oil crisis unfolding. oil isn't at 200$/barrel yet but you'd think even at 100$/barrel the price signals would cause at least some demand destruction.

and wasn't there talk in europe of jet fuel shortages. and governments everywhere are supposed to run out of emergency oil supplies in the next 1 to 6 months?

i'm a bit confused.

caycepabout 14 hours ago
The need for transportation grows but the margin is likely terrible bc of the fuel prices. Hence why you can have "the most flights etc etc" but Spirit and other airlines are going under
epolanskiabout 14 hours ago
If a price of a ticket goes up 10/20/50 euros it's not gonna deter me a bit if I have to fly.

Most people fly because they have to, family gatherings, planned vacations, business trips.

The number of people genuinely deterred by a small amount in price is still going to be small.

Also, inflation adjusted, fuel isn't that expensive. 80/90$ a barrel are prices we've seen already decades ago.

HDBaseTabout 13 hours ago
More people, more flights.
profeaturrabout 14 hours ago
The narrative that the online news-driven world tends toward is more a result of ideology and wishful thinking than reality. Hence the term “fake news.”
bestouffabout 22 hours ago
Yes let's continue burning fuel. It's fine.
K0nservabout 22 hours ago
Flying is a bit unique in that there aren't really viable alternatives. It also accounts for a fairly small portion of emissions. Land transport (cars and trucks), power generation, and heating are where the big wins exist with viable alternatives.
bluebarbetabout 16 hours ago
Per person, it is reliably the single most polluting thing you will do. The reason it accounts for a "small proportion" of emissions is that most people in the world do not fly at all. Indeed, a tiny (<1% IIRC) elite of the world's population account for most of the world's flight kilometers. Flying is an absolutely unscalable form of transport in a world of 8 billion people.
tmnvixabout 16 hours ago
> Flying is an absolutely unscalable form of transport in a world of 8 billion people.

So is the private (ICE) motorcar. ~4000kg of CO2/y for typical US use.

tonyedgecombeabout 22 hours ago
It only represents a small portion of emissions because so few people fly. For the people that do fly it represents a large portion of their emissions.

It’s also the activity least likely to be decarbonised.

Of course there are alternatives, I haven’t flown on a plane since 2001.

dudefelicianoabout 21 hours ago
I think if high speed rail was a viable option in the US and Europe those numbers would look a lot different.
bergieabout 18 hours ago
In Europe flying is subsidised and ridiculously cheap. That would need to end.

Further than removing subsidies, if flight cost would include its negative externalities, few would fly.

megablastabout 22 hours ago
What?? In Europe there are lots of viable alternatives. Same as Asia!!
jjiceabout 22 hours ago
For transport you're right. I think the parent your referring to was specifically saying there's no alternative way to power a plane. That's my assumption at least.
rienbdjabout 4 hours ago
Flying is usually the cheapest and quickest option. Madness!
bluGillabout 21 hours ago
For short trips. Most plane trips are at a distance where there isn't a viable alternative. Sure there are some nice trains that can handle the more common trips, but airplanes really shine for much longer trips.
FredFS456about 22 hours ago
Depends on where you're flying to and from in Asia, and how far.
jryle70about 14 hours ago
if people prefer flying even if alternatives exist, like what's going on in Europe and Asia, then the alternatives aren't good enough -- price, convenience, availability, comfort, whatever reasons.
ImJamalabout 13 hours ago
Even if some high speed rail existed in the US, do you think it is practical to go from California to Maine? If you are going 2,500 miles on a train that is going 150 miles an hour it would take you 16 hours assuming there are no stops. Obviously there are going to be stops so your trip is going to be an entire day.

I think a lot of people do not understand just how massive the US is.

chneuabout 21 hours ago
There are plenty of alternatives. Most importantly: traveling locally. Nobody needs to visit 30 countries by 30 years old or whatever dumb social media excuses they have.

Air travel is a very recent modern invention(1960s, at least for everyday folk) and people act like flying around the world is a right.

Modern capitalism is an excess machine and it'll feed us constant excuses for why our reasons are valid. Air travel is a great example. Travel and tourism are seen as "musts" by people nowadays. It's insane how destructive and unnecessary it is. It's wild how entitled everyone is nowadays. I'll happily take down votes for calling out the insane excess that we have nowadays. We're killing ourselves one funco pop at a time and we all deserve that funco pop according to the latest excuse(won't someone blame the rich!!!)

K0nservabout 21 hours ago
Even if you are correct, in practice there's no way to put this particularly genie back in the bottle. It's the same as trying to argue that we should solve our energy problems by asking people to consume less energy. Outside of some climate dictatorship, it's not happening.

Also, on travel, I think there's a lot to be said for the value of travel and being exposed to other cultures and societies. "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness[..]" and all that.

mellingabout 21 hours ago
It’s 2.5-3% of all global emissions.

People who complain about aviation do more harm than good.

We would accomplish more by closing a few coal power plants and replacing them with renewables or nuclear. And no one would even notice.

Can you believe it’s almost 2030 and we still haven’t reached peak coal.

greggoBabout 16 hours ago
> People who complain about aviation do more harm than good.

I find this a bit hard to swallow. It speaks to a sense of impunity wrt emissions for a demographic that very arguably drives much of the rest of the way energy is consumed. It is one of many choice this demographic has the privelage of making, in contrast to much of the rest of the population.

Have you ever met a coal or oil exec who was shy about flying? If anything, the latter would no doubt lobby hard against efforts to reign in flights, as it's directly tied to the interests of their industry.

mellingabout 16 hours ago
Who cares. Fix the big problems first. The general public is already complaining about subsidizing EVs, renewables, etc.

It’s ridiculous the amount of fossil fuels we still burn for electricity.

This “shame, shame” garbage that people did never worked.

iso1631about 2 hours ago
The people driving it tend not to be flying 300 miles on a public 767, even at the front.
ortusduxabout 22 hours ago
Here is a good list of 'fuel per seat (in mpg)' numbers for various airplane configurations and flight durations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_economy_in_aircraft#Examp...

The total average across the industry in 2018 was between 67 and 81 mpg. Modern planes are in the 100-120mpg range.

elil17about 22 hours ago
The issue is that we are enabling people to travel long distances too cheaply.
bluebarbetabout 16 hours ago
And above all too quickly. Per kilometer, flying is roughly as polluting as driving, but nobody would think to drive across a continent to go to the beach.
dudefelicianoabout 21 hours ago
What about short distances? Why is it cheaper to fly Berlin-Stuttgart than to take a train? it makes absoutely no sense.
9cb14c1ec0about 21 hours ago
Yes, let's make things more expensive, cause we experts know best. That poor guy that needs to attend a family funeral, he's a loser that should stay home. Inflation for the Win!
dudefelicianoabout 21 hours ago
and according to the article the last record was 200k planes per day on june 29 2025, while july 23rd had more than 280k - so while efficiency may be going up (how many of those 280k planes are in the modern 100-120mpg range?) total flights are as well. Result: total emissions are steadily increasing.
Findecanorabout 21 hours ago
I think the way airline tickets are priced is a big factor, and needs to change.

It is often cheaper to take a connecting flight to an airport and flying from there than to start from that airport. That disincentivises taking a low-carbon-emission train to the airport and experiencing more of (and spending more in) the city near the airport than just its airport.

Often, for longer flights, the more stops, the cheaper the total ticket gets. Planes consume more fuel at take-off and landing, making the the carbon footprint increase with these cheaper tickets. And the more you fly, the more points you get that could pay for more flights.

It should be the other way around: air-travel carbon tax should be progressive. You should pay more each time if you fly more often. That would reduce the number of flights in total while still allowing everyone to take that "trip of a life-time".

nradovabout 14 hours ago
But the bureaucrats and NGO employees who tell the rest of how to live will still be able to take unlimited flights to climate change conferences, right?
sleepyguyabout 21 hours ago
Even hot air balloons burn fuel....How do you propose we cross great distances: horse, sailboat, or walk?
trallnagabout 16 hours ago
I guess the suggestion is to not travel at all. How much of all air travel is for fun and leisure?
nradovabout 14 hours ago
Right, people should just sit at home and be miserable. Fun is sinful.
iso1631about 22 hours ago
We're screwed and powerless so activate ostrich mode is one way to deal with things, at least on a personal level. Probably better for your health
buellerbuellerabout 22 hours ago
I guess if you are really serious about saving the planet from airplanes, you could start a network of similar-feeling folks and begin randomly bombing enough flights to terrify the world into not flying.

Give yourself an edgy name, like the Children of Kali, to make it stick.

Honestly, if you think the stakes are that high then you implicate yourself with anything but fully committed action. Anything less, and you just seem preachy and screechy.

PS: It's a book called The Ministry of the Future. Try reading once in a while. Whoosh.

fussloabout 22 hours ago
I recently read Days of Rage about the various groups committing political violence during the 60s and 70s. Weatherman, Black Panthers, Black Liberation Army, etc.

I don't know if there was really a 'message' more than just reporting what 'happened'. But, I have to say I came away with the idea that that kind of political violence is futile. Non-violent political action seemed to have MUCH more beneficial action than any bomb. (of course it wasn't as clear-cut between non-violent groups and revolutionary groups at the time)

Maybe thats only because I just read the ONE book.

constantiusabout 17 hours ago
A famous paper argued that, from 1960 to 2006, nonviolent resistance was twice as likely as violent resistance to achieve its goal: it's a paper that most activists I've ever met had heard of. The reasons are largely the perception of violent resistance by the bystanders, meaning the population.

However, there have been a number of criticisms to the paper about data coding, methodology, and interpretation/motivated reasoning. Recently, the author has also acknowledged that governments have adapted since 2006: her data says nonviolent resistance is still more effective, but that the success rate has cratered.

I tried to find some of the criticisms, but it's recent, so all AI generated, so I won't link before reading, but the criticisms I'm aware of I think are robust. All this to say, the idea that nonviolent resistance is more effective is comfortable and feels better, and there is a paper that says so, but your examples and those of a child comment are not about resistance to armed colonial oppression and it's not enough to form a blanket opinion about violent resistance.

bluGillabout 21 hours ago
The general impression from talking to people who live then (I was a baby in the 1970s so I knew/know a fair number). The violent groups were looked on as weird or kids who needed to grow up - they were ignored for the most part other than cheering on what the police did.

There is a reason Rosa Parks was chosen to start the bus boycott - she comes off as "just like me" to the average person. Thus when she couldn't take it anymore the rest of America didn't write her off.

dredmorbiusabout 8 hours ago
Different periods have seen different modes of action.

There was a tremendous amount of violence in the labour movement from the late 18th through mid-20th centuries, including numerous armed conflicts. This was perpetrated by both sides, though my sense is that capital was somewhat more prone to exacting violence on labour than vice versa.

The ANTIFA movement of the 1930s--1940s was a worldwide violent struggle, which ultimately proved effective. Nonviolent movements (say, the White Rose resistance in Germany) proved utterly ineffectual. It's useful to remember Gandhi's observation that ahimsa is predicated on an opponent with a conscience which can be shamed. That wasn't the case against Nazi Germany.

Civil rights, across multiple jurisdictions, has seen both violent and non-violent movements. The US civil rights movement of the 1960s is often seen as offering White America a choice between MLK's non-violent movement and the far more radical path pursued by the Nation of Islam, Black Panthers, and others.

The story is ... complex.

adrianNabout 22 hours ago
That is a terrible way to get the necessary support for climate action and would be actively harmful to the cause.

This argument has been made so often and in so much detail that I’m surprised to still see people suggest climate terrorism in, presumably, good faith.

kbartabout 21 hours ago
Modern aviation is an amazing engineering feat (all the environmental issues aside). With such numbers it means that "one in a million" failure occurs roughly evey week, but the fact that we have so little major incidents demonstrates how well aicrafts are engineered.
originalvichyabout 13 hours ago
I’m worried that we will spend precious resources like oil on useless transport. I strongly believe that all of us who care deeply about the future of our civilization’s technological progress need to push for stronger limits on short fistance and low occupancy travel for air, land and sea.

Even if you are not alarmed about the environmental impact of flights as a share of global emissions, it’s no reason to spend our global oil reserves for useless travel. Airlines already optimize flights and routes, but the gap can be closed even further if we simply let go of the immediate convenience of booking flights.

datakanabout 22 hours ago
With numbers like that I guess they have no reason to make flights more comfortable or convenient. I just did a cross country flight and back 2 weeks ago and I'm still recovering from it. I really hate flying now.
richwaterabout 22 hours ago
The real cost of air travel continues to go down as customers really only discriminate on price. Airlines have tried before to compete on other facets but everything failed.

The best you can do is look at specific carriers, and more importantly specifically what aircraft you'll be flying on.

A cross country flight in economy is going to be more comfortable in a Delta A220 than a United 737 Max. However, because of hubs and lack of competition many non-mega metros don't really have a large amount of choice.

Sleakerabout 15 hours ago
Im not sure airline history agrees with you. My cursory knowledge from prior posts on HN like this had mentioned regulation/deregulation played a huge part in shaping the ways that airlines competed. I've heard that airlines don't compete on price/feature as much anymore because they don't have to, and kickbacks from all the credit card offerings/deals. Anecdotally I've noticed this year major airlines pulling out of certain hubs (southwest) so there is even less competition, but prices still seemed to go down among the remaining options!

Im not sure how accurate this is, so willing to be shown differently!

datakanabout 22 hours ago
Maybe, I don't know. Sprit Airlines closing up abruptly like it did may refute your premise. They were the cheapest of the cheap, people hated them and now they are gone.
richwaterabout 21 hours ago
As the country exited COVID, mainline carriers began to really push their basic and barebones fares which directly took away business from ULCCs like Spirit. Spirit never really leveraged their credit cards effectively to help subsidize the cost of seats.

ULCCs thrive when they can maximize their time in the sky across as many different flights as possible. Filling up the day with many different flights allows them to rake in checked-baggage fees, reserved seat fees etc more often than longer mainline carrier flights. All of this went out the window when a large portion of their A320 fleet was grounded because of the P&W engine issues. This absolutely killed their utilization percentage.

Spirit died way more because of business management than it did because customers didn't choose on price.

nradovabout 14 hours ago
That's not completely true. Delta Airlines became the most profitable of the four major US carriers specifically by focusing on an improved customer experience. This allowed them to charge slightly higher ticket prices, and led to increased usage of their branded credit card. United Airlines is now trying to mimic that model. Of course we've all had some bad experiences on Delta but the statistics show that on average their performance and customer satisfaction is higher.
collabsabout 22 hours ago
> With numbers like that I guess they have no reason to make flights more comfortable or convenient. I just did a cross country flight and back 2 weeks ago and I'm still recovering from it. I really hate flying now.

My expectations are low and yet airlines somehow manage to fail. I made the mistake of booking a flight with frontier and they "delayed" the flight several times before eventually canceling the whole flight.

histriosumabout 20 hours ago
All airlines do this. It’s frustrating, and it has to do with playing the game with the DOT. They are punished for cancelling flights, but not delaying them, so the game is to delay rather than cancel until there is truly no option but to cancel. It’s an area of regulation that needs more work.

I am a current airline pilot, and I end up flying on all of them in order to get to and from work. Trust me, they all do this. The impact to you may be less if it’s an airline with more flights, because that airline has more options to recover and fix your experience, but they all do it.

kilroy123about 21 hours ago
I was up in the air flying that day.

It didn't seem busy at all. Everything was on time, quick, and smooth on both sides. My partner and I commented on how smooth everything went.

richwaterabout 22 hours ago
The new Airbus Project Sunrise aircraft also set the record for longest passenger aircraft flight
RankingMemberabout 22 hours ago
Just looked that up. Good lord, they need to amend the universal declaration of human rights to include flying people 24 hours straight in coach as a violation.
brainwad6 minutes ago
I would pay a premium for it. The direct flight is still better than being interrupted halfway through your "night", and then having to trudge through a huge transfer airport just to get on another plane for another 8-14h. Also, the direct flight will be able to set the cabin lights and meal schedule optimally for you, unlike the stopover flights. And it's several hours quicker.

The downside is that it doesn't scale beyond the biggest city pairs: you'd need N^2 direct flights vs 2N flights via a hub.

richwaterabout 21 hours ago
It will surely be a tough sell. It will be very expensive (comparatively), and most travelers won't even want to do it. There's a reason Ethiad is so successful on these kinds of flights because their hub creates a natural stopping point halfway.
Wildgooseabout 22 hours ago
This seems like madness to me. A fully loaded 747 has around 140,000 litres of energy-dense jet fuel containing between 2.2 and 2.9 GWh worth of energy - or around two hours output of a typical power station.

This level of profligacy is simply not sustainable.

nancyminusoneabout 21 hours ago
Optimization for this problem looks like making it so people and items do not need fast transportation, but I don't see that happening any time soon.
RankingMemberabout 22 hours ago
Parkinson's Law needs a moderator in the form of agreed-upon limits. How we get there, I have no idea, but it's well-overdue.
noosphrabout 22 hours ago
Yes, we need to shut down the power plants. People lived without electricity for millions of years, they can always get back to it. /s
chneuabout 21 hours ago
To summarize, this is the equivalent of someone putting their fingers in their ear and going, "lalalalalala I'm not listening" while someone tells them to stop being a consumption monster.
noosphrabout 15 hours ago
Yes, please turn off your computer and stop killing the planet.
RankingMemberabout 22 hours ago
To me, the parent's statement was a comment on the enormity of aircraft fuel used.
twister2920about 22 hours ago
not really the same thing