Flying once felt like freedom. Today, for millions of young travelers, it sparks guilt. The concept of “flygskam” or flight shame has morphed from a fringe Swedish movement into a cultural force redefining travel habits across age groups. Yet while Gen Z debates carbon footprints and train itineraries, Baby Boomers seem to fly on without a second thought.
How the Flight Shame Movement Took Off
Flight shame emerged from Sweden, where the phenomenon of “flygskam” first gained traction, fueled by growing awareness of air travel’s environmental impact. Young climate activist Greta Thunberg became its most visible proponent when she refused to fly, opting instead for train and boat journeys. The movement encourages travelers to forgo air travel in favor of less environmentally harmful options like rail.
A survey of more than 6,000 respondents across the US, UK, Germany, and France found that more than one-fifth had reduced their flying frequency out of concern about climate change. Meanwhile, Swedish Railways reported that roughly 37 percent of respondents chose rail travel over air, compared with just 20 percent in early 2018. Train bragging became its own hashtag trend, celebrating overland journeys.
Gen Z Is Flying Less Than Anyone Expected
Here’s the thing that trips people up: Roughly 13 percent of Gen Z indicated they will no longer travel by plane due to emissions, while 21 percent say they know someone who refuses air travel. That’s not a majority, yet it’s a significant shift. Nearly half of adult Gen Zers in the UK worry about the environmental impact of their travel, compared to just 31 percent of Baby Boomers.
Boomers Are Still Boarding Planes Without Guilt
Fewer than a third of over-60s in the UK have worried about the impact of their travel on the environment, while that figure drops to just 26 percent among those over 78. Roughly two-fifths of younger people expect to fly even more in the coming year, around twice the proportion for Baby Boomers. So younger travelers are more conflicted but flying more anyway, while older travelers feel zero shame and fly less by choice or circumstance.
Let’s be real: Boomers came of age in an era when jet travel symbolized prosperity and progress. Baby Boomers are reinventing old age based on consumption and leisure-oriented lifestyles, where travel and cosmopolitanism are key features, and many are highly car-dependent and enjoy international air travel. For them, environmental concerns compete with decades of ingrained habits.
The Train Is the New Status Symbol
Gen Zers are drawn to alternative modes of transportation, especially trains, combining a smaller carbon footprint with a close connection to the countryside, seeking slow travel and experiences unlike anyone else’s. Train travel has been steadily gaining momentum, as travelers seek alternatives to pricey airfares and look for sustainable options in what’s being called the “rail renaissance.”
More than half of passengers aged 16 to 24 at London Gatwick Airport opted for train services in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 6 percent increase from the same period in 2024. Rail produces up to 83 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than driving and up to 73 percent fewer emissions than flying, according to Amtrak. Young travelers are embracing sleeper trains and scenic routes as part of the journey itself.
The Great Generational Contradiction
What’s fascinating is how contradictory the data looks. Almost three-quarters of Britons aged 18 to 34 have taken a flight in the past year, while among those over 55, this percentage drops to about half, and two-fifths of young people plan to fly even more next year, twice the proportion of Baby Boomers. Under-35s overwhelmingly view high fares as the biggest obstacle to travel rather than worries about the planet, with 38 percent listing travel costs as the reason for not flying and only 7 percent citing environmental considerations.
Why Boomers Are Skeptical of Flight Shame
While a third of older consumers favor including climate costs in ticket prices, Gen Z tends not to appreciate this solution, instead believing the government should bear the cost. Those under 30 seem more convinced that the aviation sector will eventually find solutions to reduce its environmental impact, compared to Baby Boomers. Boomers are more skeptical about technological fixes precisely because they’ve seen decades of unfulfilled promises.
A third of older consumers would be happy to see climate costs included in ticket prices, a notion firmly rejected by Gen Zers, while younger people showed more trust in aviation to clean up its act, with almost 60 percent professing faith in the industry’s commitment. Older generations don’t buy the industry’s green rhetoric, having witnessed greenwashing across multiple sectors for years.
What the Airlines Are Actually Doing
By 2019, the flight shame movement had inspired dozens of organizations, including universities and businesses across Europe, to impose short-haul flight bans on employees and discourage long-haul flights, and the airline industry recognized the movement as a threat to its business interests, discussing combating flygskam at the annual International Air Transport Association meeting. Aviation accounts for about 2 percent of global carbon emissions, and if global aviation were a country, it would rank in the top 10 emitters.
The reality is that technological solutions remain distant. Electric planes, sustainable aviation fuel, and hydrogen aircraft all face massive hurdles. In 2018, 11 percent of the global population took a flight, 4 percent flew abroad, and 1 percent was responsible for half of global aviation emissions. The wealthiest frequent flyers drive the emissions crisis, not the occasional holiday traveler.
Where This Leaves Everyone in 2025
Four in 10 travelers, especially Millennials and Gen Zers, do at least one thing to reduce their environmental impact, such as traveling at off-peak times and preferring hotels and airlines with higher sustainability ratings, while 13 percent of Gen Z respondents said they won’t travel by plane due to emissions. Abta’s 2023 travel trends report shows that 61 percent are determined to travel more sustainably and 36 percent plan to fly less, with the trend toward no-fly trips increasing among millennials and Generation Z.
Flight shame has reshaped the conversation around travel, even if it hasn’t grounded planes. Gen Z grapples with guilt and makes incremental changes while still prioritizing exploration. Boomers largely dismiss the hand-wringing and continue traveling as they please. The generational divide reflects differing values, experiences, and relationships with both privilege and environmental responsibility. Train networks expand, sustainable tourism grows, and yet the skies remain crowded. The question isn’t whether flight shame will stop people from flying. It’s whether it creates enough pressure for systemic change before it’s too late. What choices will you make next time you book a trip?
