Researchers: The myth of increasing flying is spread by selective reporting

Media often report on figures showing that flying is increasing. This despite fuel crises, waves of canceled departures and a troubled global situation. The problem is that it is a simplistic picture. That's what Maria Wolrath says, who is an associate professor at Södertörn University and researches our attitude to climate issues.

- It is true that flying has increased somewhat this year, but on the whole, flying has decreased dramatically.

Since 2019, the number of passengers on domestic flights has decreased by approximately 40 percent, while the total number of passengers at Swedish airports has gone from roughly 40 million in 2018 to 30.9 million last year.

- Journalists often call me and ask: "Why do people fly like crazy even though we know all this about the climate?" It often happens in connection with a press release from Swedavia that highlights one or two months when flying increases. When the journalist ignorantly relays this, it contributes to a selective selection that spreads the myth that people are flying as usual.

Maria Wolrath thinks that is unfortunate.

- This in turn gives people a reason to continue flying themselves, because no one else seems to care, she says.

The term "flying shame" was coined around 2017 and gained real impact in 2018. The word, which refers to a sense of shame in the individual about how their own air travel affects the climate, was a Swedish phenomenon, but also received attention abroad. The word was used extensively just under ten years ago, but considerably more sparingly today.

Maria Wolrath believes that the Swedes' declining flying is actually an example that behavioral changes are possible.

- My view is that the aviation shame discussion, or rather the moral insight into how much you damage the climate by flying, on the whole had and continues to have a great effect, says Maria Wolrath.