This is commentary on an article published by the Stay Grounded Network on 8/11/21.
Stay Grounded recently published a sharp expose on Frequent Flyer Programs, a topic at the heart of the Flight Free Campaign. We ask people to pledge Flight Free to reduce emissions, change the fossil fuel norm, and support strong climate policy. Frequent Flyer programs do just the opposite- they increase air travel and global warming emissions, they normalize and reward climate destruction, and are an enormous public subsidy to airlines that no one voted for. Policy to ban frequent flyer programs and/or eliminate the regressive credit card banking mechanism that feeds these airline programs are vital to social justice and fossil fuel de-growth.
Frequent flyer programs are a key marketing tool and profit center for airlines- incentivizing and rewarding high carbon, climate destructive travel habits. More than 120 million US residents are enrolled in Frequent Flyer programs which contribute between 30% and 50% of profits for US airlines. Air travel has grown steadily at about 5.7% per year since 1995, up until Covid19 hit. What is shockingly unfair is that frequent flyer programs make everyone pay for the elite to travel. The article emphasizes that there are no free perks, someone always pays and this is how we have been duped:
“Most people are struggling to make ends meet, but frequent flyer programs force everyone to pay to subsidize others’ air travel. Airlines sell miles to banks that issue credit cards. The banks then charge retailers both a transaction fee for the customer’s use of the card and a fee to cover the cost of the miles that are awarded […] Because merchants have to pay the fees, they raise prices on their goods and services to cover the added cost. […] FFPs are a scheme that would do the Mafia proud, by extracting money from the general public to subsidize a private industry that serves the world’s elite.”
In summary, as we need to stop burning fossil fuels immediately for the chance of survival, frequent flyer programs shouldn’t be allowed to exist in a climate emergency.
Read the full article here for more information and footnotes:
www.stay-grounded.org/frequent-flyer-programmes-incentivise-climate-destruction