Environmental activists are outraged by a recent American Airlines flight from Chicago to London which only carried five passengers. The aircraft, a massive Boeing 777, used approximately 22,000 gallons of fuel, or 4,400 gallons per passenger. The five people on board were all upgraded to business class and waited on by two flight attendants, in what was surely the most comfortable flight of their lives.
Despite the criticism from environmental groups, American Airlines is defending its decision to go ahead with the nearly empty flight. According to a spokesperson, hundreds of people were waiting in London for the flight to land so that they could leave for the US.
“With such a small passenger load we did consider whether we could cancel the flight and re-accommodate the five remaining passengers on other flights,” said the spokesperson. “However, this would have left a plane load of west-bound passengers stranded in London Heathrow who were due to fly to the U.S. on the same aircraft.”
The airline did note that, despite the scarcity of passengers, the plane did carry a full load of cargo. No word on whether it, too, was moved to first class.