While commercial aviation comes under a lot of fire from environmentalists for its contribution to CO2 emissions, celebrities who go for unnecessary joyrides in fuel-guzzling private jets spark a particular kind of ire among the public. Recently, social media has been ablaze with indignation on behalf of the planet over Kylie Jenner's apparent decision to hop on her Bombardier BD-700 for a flight that took all but about 12 minutes.In all fairness, it was the second leg of a journey, taking the American model and businesswoman from Van Nuys in Los Angeles to the nearby town of Camarillo. The first leg, to Van Nuys from Thermal, California, lasted for a full 27 minutes. The flights were picked up by an automated Twitter account that tracks celebrity jets and have garnered quite the media attention. The Independent's Kate NG wrote, "Kylie Jenner’s alleged private jet habit makes me feel like a mug for caring about the planet."

The internet is divided between "goals" and carbon conscience

Jenner's Instagram post of her standing on the apron between two private jets embracing her partner, rapper Travis Scott, has done nothing but fuel (pun intended) the fire of outrage at the logistics luxury habit. The caption reads, "wanna take mine or yours?". Posted five days ago, it has been picked up and shared across several activist sites. However, many Kardashian/Jenner relations and other socialite celebrities commented on the photo along the lines of 'yours please' and 'his & her - goals!!!' not to mention 'VIBES', complete with fire emojis (the irony).

Meanwhile, other much-liked comments on the post read, "maybe take neither's and reduce your carbon footprint?" and "your waste of gas emissions or mine?" Indeed, if Kylie Jenner had a company ESG target to hit, her auditors would probably have been less than pleased with the choice of transportation. Another commenter said, "why do I have to limit my meat consumption and use paper straws while the 1% gets to pump tons of carbon into the air for a day trip to Palm Springs?".

In "good" company

Kylie Jenner owns a Bombardier BD-700 Global Express. The 19-seater long-range twinjet was built in 2019 and is registered N810KJ. Partner and rapper Travis Scott owns an Embraer ERJ-190 that began operation in 2015 and is registered as N713TS since December 2020. They are far from the only celebrities accused of unnecessary private jetting about. One only has to go a short bit down the CelebJets Twitter rabbit hole to see that short flights are an everyday occurrence among those who can afford the fuel.

Jenner's half-sister, Kim Kardashian, chartered an entire Boeing 777 to celebrate her 40th birthday. Along with ex-husband Kanye West, they have even been known to rent a Boeing 747 entirely for themselves. But it is not only socialites and rappers that are facing criticism for their private aviation addiction. Self-proclaimed climate activist, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has also had his commitment to the environmental cause challenged due to his extensive collection and self-professed "guilty pleasure" of private jets.

Source: The Independent