Forget about who will win the Super Bowl, the biggest question on everyone's lips has been if Taylor Swift will take the 17-hour flight, and the 19-hour time difference, to fly from Tokyo, Japan to Las Vegas to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce try to win his third ring.
And it looks like the answer is yes as the 34-year-old is reportedly flying over the Pacific Ocean and into Los Angeles where she will land and possibly drive the four hours to Vegas. But the singer hasn't taken her own personal private jet, instead hiring a Bombardier Global 6000 via Vista Jet – which bills itself as the first and only global private aviation company – to fly her around the globe.
© Getty ImagesTaylor's own personal jet is a Dassault 7x, which has similar capacity but a slower speed. The Bombardier Global 6000 was therefore a smarter choice to ensure a quicker flight; it appears weather is also on her side as the 17-hour flight looks to be taking 16-hours instead.
Flight tracking capabilities reveal that a charter flight left Tokyo's Haneda Airport at 11:36 p.m. local time; approximately 90 minutes after she finished her fourth and final show in the city. Details on Flight Radar reveal that the jet's codename was The Football Era, a playful nod to the singer's tour name and recent appearances at NFL games.
The plane is scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday afternoon. It has also been alleged that Vista Jet sent a second plane to Tokyo, to ensure that if there were any issues with the original jet there would be a backup; the codename for the second charter was named 'Backup Quarterback' on FlightRadar24.
The discourse around Taylor's private jet usage has led to criticism over the carbon emissions footprint, while her team has insisted that there are privacy concerns at play when social media accounts share her flight information; flight tracking is public information.
© Getty ImagesIn December 2023 a cease-and-desist letter was sent from Taylor's lead attorney, Katie Morrone of Venable LLP, to Jack Sweeney who for several years has run accounts monitoring and sharing flights from private jets owned by notable 1%ers, using "unencrypted signals broadcast straight from planes (ADS-B)".
The letter, however, accused Jack of "stalking and harassing behavior" over his practice of "consistently publishing real-time and precise information about our client's location and future whereabouts to the public on social media". The letter emphasized not only the heightened security risk his public monitoring poses for Taylor, but also the "constant state of fear for her personal safety".
© Getty ImagesTaylor's spokeswoman maintained to the Washington Post, who first reported on the private jet issue: "We cannot comment on any ongoing police investigation but can confirm the timing of stalkers suggests a connection. His posts tell you exactly when and where she would be."
But her use of the planes and the potential carbon footprint has led to intense scrutiny. A 2023 study by the Institute for Policy Studies found that private jets emit at least 10 times more pollutants per passenger compared to commercial planes.
© Buda Mendes/TAS23The singer purchased double the required carbon credits to offset the emissions she would make touring the world across 2023 and 2024, but the use of the credits itself is flawed because it doesn't halt the emissions in the first place and often negatively impacts poorer countries and low-income communities.
In addition to Taylor, a 2022 list of the public figures with the worst private jet CO2 emissions included Floyd Mayweather, Jay-Z, Blake Shelton, Steven Spielberg and Kim Kardashian. Many have maintained the data is inaccurate, citing how they often loan their jets to others.
