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Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

simpleflying.com

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Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#81
post #19
post #2

This feels like one of those cases where it’s safe to say “history” instead of “recorded history.”

History, as recorded by Flightradar24: "a whopping grand total of 153,359 commercial flights were tracked between 00:00 UTC and 23:59 UTC on July 23, 2026" So I would say it's justified to qualify it. Not sure how Flightradar24's coverage has evolved over time, but it could theoretically be that there were more flights at some point before 2020, but some of them weren't tracked?

Minor commercial flights at minor airports? The kind of 20 people flight between two cities in Indonesia not even Indonesians know much?

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#82

i don't understand how we can be setting new records on airflights at a time when there is a major oil crisis unfolding. oil isn't at 200$/barrel yet but you'd think even at 100$/barrel the price signals would cause at least some demand destruction. and wasn't there talk in europe of jet fuel shortages. and governments everywhere are supposed to run out of emergency oil supplies in the next 1 to 6 months? i'm a bit c…

The narrative that the online news-driven world tends toward is more a result of ideology and wishful thinking than reality. Hence the term “fake news.”

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#83

i don't understand how we can be setting new records on airflights at a time when there is a major oil crisis unfolding. oil isn't at 200$/barrel yet but you'd think even at 100$/barrel the price signals would cause at least some demand destruction. and wasn't there talk in europe of jet fuel shortages. and governments everywhere are supposed to run out of emergency oil supplies in the next 1 to 6 months? i'm a bit c…

The need for transportation grows but the margin is likely terrible bc of the fuel prices. Hence why you can have "the most flights etc etc" but Spirit and other airlines are going under

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#84
I’m worried that we will spend precious resources like oil on useless transport. I strongly believe that all of us who care deeply about the future of our civilization’s technological progress need to push for stronger limits on short fistance and low occupancy travel for air, land and sea.

Even if you are not alarmed about the environmental impact of flights as a share of global emissions, it’s no reason to spend our global oil reserves for useless travel. Airlines already optimize flights and routes, but the gap can be closed even further if we simply let go of the immediate convenience of booking flights.

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#85
post #72
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People who complain about aviation do more harm than good. I find this a bit hard to swallow. It speaks to a sense of impunity wrt emissions for a demographic that very arguably drives much of the rest of the way energy is consumed. It is one of many choice this demographic has the privelage of making, in contrast to much of the rest of the population. Have you ever met a coal or oil exec who was shy about flying?…

Who cares. Fix the big problems first. The general public is already complaining about subsidizing EVs, renewables, etc. It’s ridiculous the amount of fossil fuels we still burn for electricity. This “shame, shame” garbage that people did never worked.

Hard to tell what you're specifically bothered by - is it a focus on emissions that aren't specifically fossil fuels burned for electricity, or "shame, shame garbage", as you put it?

In either case, I think we can be expected to walk and chew gum; to see every source of emissions as its own individual problem (scaled to proportion, ofc) AND recognize that they inevitably feed into each other. To do less is counterproductive, IMO.

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#86
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even history is not safe if you consider the entire universe.

Technically history only refers to the parts of the past for which we have written records.

Paleontologists would like to have a word…

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#87
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flying is a bit unique in that there aren't really viable alternatives. It also accounts for a fairly small portion of emissions. Land transport (cars and trucks), power generation, and heating are where the big wins exist with viable alternatives.

What?? In Europe there are lots of viable alternatives. Same as Asia!!

Even if some high speed rail existed in the US, do you think it is practical to go from California to Maine? If you are going 2,500 miles on a train that is going 150 miles an hour it would take you 16 hours assuming there are no stops. Obviously there are going to be stops so your trip is going to be an entire day.

I think a lot of people do not understand just how massive the US is.

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#88

i don't understand how we can be setting new records on airflights at a time when there is a major oil crisis unfolding. oil isn't at 200$/barrel yet but you'd think even at 100$/barrel the price signals would cause at least some demand destruction. and wasn't there talk in europe of jet fuel shortages. and governments everywhere are supposed to run out of emergency oil supplies in the next 1 to 6 months? i'm a bit c…

More people, more flights.

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically history only refers to the parts of the past for which we have written records.

Paleontologists would like to have a word…

No the study of history started at written records. It's call pre-historical for a reason

Re: Over 150k Flights: Airlines Just Flew the Busiest Day in Recorded History

#90
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What?? In Europe there are lots of viable alternatives. Same as Asia!!

Even if some high speed rail existed in the US, do you think it is practical to go from California to Maine? If you are going 2,500 miles on a train that is going 150 miles an hour it would take you 16 hours assuming there are no stops. Obviously there are going to be stops so your trip is going to be an entire day. I think a lot of people do not understand just how massive the US is.

California to Maine is a lot of distance. But would people fly from NYC to Boston if they had a bullet train?
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