Private jets, which
started becoming popular in the 1960s, are now under more scrutiny for their environmental impact.
When Kylie Jenner posted on Instagram a photo of her and boyfriend Travis Scott with their private jets in July, some commented, asking
why they have to be eco-conscious while Jenner and other wealthy people fly around emitting carbon into the atmosphere.
Per passenger, private jets create five to 14 times more pollution than commercial planes,
according to Transport and Environment. The European clean transport campaign group also found that private jets create 50 times more pollution than trains, and that the divide will keep growing as jets get larger.
In 2020, there was a 300% increase year over year in first-time private jet fliers,
Robb Report reported. Richard Koe, a managing director at data management and analysis firm WingX, told the LA Times that 2022 has been "a record year," for private jet traffic around the world.
But private jets aren't the only planes that use VNY. Charter planes, which
allow single fliers to buy a ticket to travel specific but unscheduled routes, also use it. Because some charter flights on specific types of planes are allowed from the airport by the Federal Aviation Administration, it creates a "loophole," Lake Balboa resident Suzanne Gutierrez-Hedges told the LA Times.
"It's turned Van Nuys into a commercial airport," she said, adding that she and her neighbors say, "We die so the 1% can fly!"
People living around the airport shared possible solutions with the LA Times.
Gutierrez-Hedges said she wanted to see a curfew for private jet take-offs and landings, and a study on the air quality. Steinberg pushed for an environmental buffer between the airport and residential areas.
