Tom Stuker has flown about 23 million miles (37 million kilometers) in three decades, the same as 48 round trips to the moon, but he says he is not concerned by his carbon footprint.
Stuker, dubbed the world’s most traveled air passenger, estimates he has spent the equivalent of three of his 69 years on planes and in airports. The businessman from New Jersey travels an average of 1.6 million kilometers a year, although in 2019 he clocked up 2.4 million kilometers.
Stuker owes his travel to a lifetime pass he bought from United Airlines for US$290,000 in 1990. At the time, his auto industry consulting business was expanding, particularly in Australia, and he wanted to save money on travel. He later took up the option of a companion pass, bringing his total spent to US$510,000, for which he took out a loan.
Photo: AFP
Then he was scared of flying, but not anymore.
The pass has likely saved him millions of dollars, but United appear happy with his business — they’ve put his name on three of their planes.
Stuker has flown an average of 35,406km a week since acquiring his pass and visits Australia about 20 times a year.
He has been featured in several US publications and has endured some abuse on social media, with users accusing him of contributing to global warming.
“Recently a person posted a comment saying he hopes that myself and my entire family die from my carbon footprint,” Stuker says.
The airline industry contributes up to 3 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, but experts say its impact on warming temperatures is worsened by its emission of other gases and condensation trails.
Scientists say the industry’s contribution to further warming can be halted with a 2.5 percent annual decrease in traffic using current fuels or a transition to a 90 percent carbon-neutral fuel mix by 2050, an industry target.
“The problem isn’t the passengers,” Stuker says. “The only way to solve the problem is with the airline industry itself, which is spending millions of dollars to reduce its overall emissions.”
So what is his top tip to ensure the smoothest possible travel? Catch the first flight of the day because it is usually cheaper, less busy, and not impacted by delays.
“Get your butt out of bed early!” Stuker says.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary