If you live in a developed country, you should consider flying at most once per year.

Why fly once per year?

1. Flying has a lot of negative effects. It emits a lot of CO2, causes noise pollution, and generates contrails, which cause atmospheric warming by trapping heat, to name a few.

2. Unlike other major sources of CO2 (electricity, heat, ground transport), flying is mostly a luxury, and can therefore be limited without much impact on quality of life.

3. Flying is one of the least equitable sources of CO2 emissions. Per capita CO2 emissions for North Americans were around 14 tons in 2020. In Europe, it's about 4-8 tons, depending on the country. Flying 100k miles per year (the so-called "Gold" members of frequent flyer programs) emits another 16.7 tons (assuming economy class). So the average North American frequent flyer has about twice the impact on the climate as the average North American (3x if flying business), and the average European frequent flyer has about 2-5 times the impact as the average European. And that's just equity within your own country. Most people in the world can't afford to fly at all, and also live in countries that have lower per capita emissions to begin with.

Why once per year, instead of twice, or not at all?

The point I'm trying to make is less about the exact number of times you fly, and more that you should voluntarily limit the number (or distance) of the flights you take. I understand that people like to take vacations, like to escape the winter, and sometimes need to travel for business reasons. I do too. That's why this site is called flyonceperyear.com and not dontflyatall.com. Incidentally, if you want to pledge not to fly at all, go to FlightFree.org (US) or Stay Grounded (Europe) .

Even though flying is sometimes necessary, a lot of the time you can still do things to limit the number of flights you take. For example, a lot of meetings (even conferences) can be done virtually these days. Yes, I understand it's not quite the same, but on the plus side, you get to see your family and sleep in your own bed at night, and you don't have to wait in lines at airports or get worried that you'll catch COVID on the plane.

As for vacations, you can consolidate them into one longer trip rather than multiple trips throughout the year. And you can go to places that are not as far away, but still have the features you're looking for. Are you considering a trip to New Zealand to see the mountains? Consider British Columbia or Switzerland. Like the beach? Consider going to Mexico or Spain, rather than Hawaii or the Azores. You can use this calculator to figure out the emissions for different origin/destinations.

And for goodness sakes, please stop bragging about your frequent flyer miles.

Interested in learning more?

Click around this site to find links to data about flying and the effects of flying, and consider taking the pledge to become an Infrequent Flyer below (I'll mail you a free bumper sticker and membership card!)