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Why Lil Nas X Flew Commercial—and What Private Jets’ Emissions Comparisons Show

Lil Nas X’s July 2024 post linked mockery of his apparent commercial flight to carbon-footprint criticism he expected if later seen on a jet. The emissions comparisons vary by aircraft, route and occupancy.
Opened Runtime3 min Written byDocumentaryTube Team
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Lil Nas X’s July 2024 post about flying on a regular plane was a pointed response to people mocking his apparent commercial flight—not a promise that he will always avoid private jets. He said he did not want to face viral carbon-footprint criticism if people later saw him on a jet. The broader climate concern is supported by comparisons showing that private flights can produce much higher emissions per passenger, though the size of the difference depends on the aircraft, route and number of people aboard.

What Lil Nas X said about flying commercial

On July 26, 2024, Lil Nas X (Montero Hill) posted video from what appeared to be a commercial-aircraft cabin, according to Futurism’s report. Some replies mocked him for not flying privately. One commenter asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be flying private?” and another called him “broke,” as reproduced in the coverage.

The next day, he responded: “to all u bitches calling me broke for flying on a regular plane i don’t wanna see not one viral carbon footprint tweet when yall see my ass on a jet”. The wording, reproduced by Futurism, connects the online criticism to the carbon criticism he anticipated if he were later seen on a jet. It does not establish that climate impact was his only reason for taking that flight, or that he has made a permanent commitment to commercial travel.

Why private-jet emissions per passenger can be higher

A private aircraft’s emissions are divided among the people aboard when calculating emissions per passenger. A flight with very few passengers can therefore have a much larger per-person footprint than a larger aircraft carrying many travelers. The comparison also changes with the route and aircraft, and with what is measured: the figures below are not one universal multiplier.

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Institute for Policy Studies: a New York–Washington example

The Institute for Policy Studies’ 2023 report estimated that a private jet produced about 45 times the emissions per passenger of a commercial plane in its New York–Washington, D.C., route example. That is a route-specific estimate from the report, not a claim that every private flight emits 45 times more per passenger than every airline flight. Read the Institute for Policy Studies report.

ProPublica: aircraft and occupancy change the comparison

In a separate comparison reported by ProPublica, aviation expert Phillip Ansell estimated that a fully loaded Gulfstream G650ER produced about 4.5 times as much CO2 per passenger as a Boeing 737. For a Gulfstream trip with one passenger, his estimate was about 80 times as polluting per passenger as the Boeing 737 comparison. The figures use different aircraft and passenger assumptions from the Institute for Policy Studies example, so they should not be combined into a single standard ratio. Read ProPublica’s reporting and comparison.

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How private aviation fits into aviation’s overall emissions

High emissions per private-jet passenger do not mean private jets account for an equally large share of aviation’s total carbon pollution. A 2024 study, covered by the Associated Press, estimated that private-jet emissions rose 46% from 2019 to 2023 and accounted for 1.8% of aviation’s carbon pollution. The same AP report said aviation accounted for about 4% of human-caused heat-trapping gases. These are distinct measures: one describes private aviation’s share within aviation, while the other describes aviation’s share of human-caused emissions. Read the Associated Press report.

Study lead author Stefan Gössling, a transportation researcher at Sweden’s Linnaeus University business school, told AP: “The damage is done by those with a lot of money and the cost is borne by those with very little money.” The observation points to the equity concern behind the debate: a small number of high-emitting trips can deliver their benefits to travelers while climate harms are more widely shared.

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What can—and cannot—be concluded about his flight

The reported exchange makes the contrast between celebrity status and expectations of private travel unusually explicit. But the available coverage does not establish Lil Nas X’s full itinerary, the aircraft he might otherwise have used, or how many people were on any relevant flight. Without those details, there is no defensible way to calculate the emissions from this particular trip or quantify how much he saved by flying commercially.

Commercial aviation is not emissions-free. The comparisons support the narrower conclusion that private flights can have substantially higher emissions per passenger, especially when few people are aboard. They do not prove the impact of one unidentified flight or show that every commercial-versus-private comparison will produce the same result.

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