Overview
Stay Grounded operates as a global coalition dedicated to addressing the climate impact of aviation through coordinated advocacy and grassroots mobilization. Established in 2016, the network has grown to include more than 200 member organizations, creating a broad alliance that spans continents and political contexts. The membership is diverse, comprising local airport opposition groups, climate justice activists, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, and academics. This composition allows Stay Grounded to bridge the gap between local community struggles against airport expansion and broader systemic critiques of the aviation industry's role in global warming. The organization remains operational, continuing to coordinate efforts to influence policy and public opinion regarding sustainable transport.
Core Mission and Strategy
The central objective of Stay Grounded is to campaign for a just reduction of aviation to address climate change. This mission is rooted in fostering sustainable transport alternatives while simultaneously campaigning against what the network identifies as ineffective or duplicitous climate strategies within the aviation sector. The organization argues that current decarbonization efforts, such as the reliance on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or carbon offsetting schemes, often serve to prolong the dominance of air travel rather than fundamentally reducing its carbon footprint. By highlighting these strategies as potentially misleading, Stay Grounded seeks to shift the narrative from technological fixes to structural reductions in flight frequency and distance.
A significant component of the network's advocacy involves promoting viable alternatives to short-haul flights, with a particular emphasis on the revival and expansion of night trains. This focus on rail transport is not merely a preference for a different mode of travel but a strategic intervention to reclaim infrastructure and political will for ground-based solutions. The network posits that a just transition requires not only reducing the number of flights but also ensuring that the benefits of reduced aviation—such as cleaner air, reduced noise pollution, and lower carbon emissions—are equitably distributed. This includes considering the social impacts on aviation workers, whose trade unions are part of the coalition, ensuring that the reduction of flights does not come at the expense of labor rights and social stability. Through this multifaceted approach, Stay Grounded aims to create a comprehensive framework for a post-aviation era that prioritizes climate justice and sustainable mobility.
History and Origins
Stay Grounded was established in October 2016, emerging from the broader climate justice movement to address the growing environmental impact of global air travel. The organization was founded by Magdalena Heuwieser and Mira Kapfinger, who identified a critical gap in the climate strategy landscape regarding aviation emissions. Their work was initiated during the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conference, a pivotal moment when the aviation sector was formulating its initial, and often criticized, climate strategies. The founders sought to create a unified voice for those opposing what they viewed as ineffective or duplicitous approaches to decarbonizing the skies.
The network was designed to be a global coalition, bringing together diverse stakeholders including local airport opposition groups, climate justice activists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions, and academics. This multi-faceted membership structure allowed Stay Grounded to bridge the gap between grassroots local resistance and broader systemic climate advocacy. By 2016, the organization had already begun to take shape, aiming to foster sustainable transport alternatives while campaigning for a just reduction in aviation activity. The initial phase of Stay Grounded focused on coordinating global action days, creating synchronized moments of pressure on policymakers and aviation stakeholders. These coordinated efforts were crucial in raising awareness about the climate impact of flying and the need for more ambitious, equitable solutions to the aviation crisis.
Network Growth and Conferences
Stay Grounded expanded its operational reach significantly following its 2016 founding. By Autumn 2018, the network coordinated a major wave of activism, organizing 27 protests across various locations to highlight the climate impact of aviation. This coordinated action demonstrated the network's ability to mobilize its diverse membership, which includes local airport opposition groups, climate justice activists, NGOs, trade unions, and academics. The scale of these protests underscored the growing concern regarding ineffective or duplicitous climate strategies in the aviation sector.
The organization has utilized international conferences to strengthen its global network and share strategies. The first major conference was held in Barcelona in 2019. This event served as a key gathering point for member organizations to discuss sustainable transport and campaign tactics. The network continued to hold significant meetings in subsequent years, with a conference taking place in Lille in 2022. This meeting further solidified the connections between European and global members. In 2025, the network returned to Barcelona for another conference, highlighting the city's role as a recurring hub for the movement. These conferences provide essential platforms for knowledge exchange and strategic planning among the more than 200 member organizations.
Conference Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Conference in Barcelona |
| 2022 | Conference in Lille |
| 2025 | Conference in Barcelona |
Campaigns and Media Attention
Stay Grounded’s activism focuses on tangible interventions and coordinated public campaigns to challenge the aviation sector’s climate impact. A defining moment in the network’s early history was the November 2019 sit-in at Berlin Tegel Airport. This action involved 50 members of the network joining 80 demonstrators in a direct occupation of the terminal. The protest highlighted the growing coordination between local airport opposition groups and broader climate justice activists within the network. By physically occupying the space, the members aimed to disrupt the perceived normalcy of air travel and draw attention to the carbon footprint of the sector. This event demonstrated the network’s capacity to mobilize its diverse membership, which includes NGOs, trade unions, and academics, into unified direct action. The Berlin Tegel sit-in served as a model for subsequent local actions across the network’s more than 200 member organizations.
Pandemic-Era Advocacy
During the global pandemic, Stay Grounded launched the #SavePeopleNotPlanes petition. This campaign leveraged the temporary disruption in air travel to argue for a structural shift in transport priorities. The petition called for public funds, often directed toward aviation bailouts, to be redirected toward sustainable transport infrastructure and social welfare. The network framed the crisis as an opportunity to correct ineffective and duplicitous climate strategies that had previously favored aviation over other modes of transport. The #SavePeopleNotPlanes initiative resonated with the network’s core mission of fostering sustainable transport and addressing climate justice. It emphasized the need for a just reduction in aviation, ensuring that the burden of transition did not fall disproportionately on workers and local communities. The campaign garnered significant media attention, positioning Stay Grounded as a key voice in the debate over post-pandemic recovery funds.
Media and Public Perception
The network’s campaigns have attracted considerable media coverage, amplifying the message of local airport opposition groups. Media reports have highlighted the diversity of the network’s membership, noting the involvement of trade unions alongside traditional environmental NGOs. This broad coalition has helped to frame the aviation debate not just as an environmental issue, but as a social and economic one. The media attention has also shed light on the network’s critique of carbon offsetting and other strategies viewed as duplicitous. By maintaining a consistent message since its founding in 2016, Stay Grounded has established itself as a credible source for journalists and analysts covering the climate impact of air travel. The network’s ability to generate both direct action and policy-oriented campaigns has ensured its continued relevance in the global discourse on sustainable transport.
How does Stay Grounded critique Sustainable Aviation Fuels?
Stay Grounded maintains a critical stance toward Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), viewing them as a primary mechanism for maintaining the status quo rather than achieving a rapid, just reduction in aviation emissions. The network argues that reliance on biofuels and synthetic alternatives often serves to legitimize continued growth in air travel, thereby delaying more structural changes to the transport sector. This perspective is rooted in the organization’s broader campaign against what it describes as ineffective or duplicitous climate strategies within the aviation industry.
Critique of Air New Zealand’s SAF Strategy
In August 2024, Stay Grounded issued specific comments regarding Air New Zealand’s approach to integrating Sustainable Aviation Fuels. The network analyzed the airline’s strategy, suggesting that the promotion of SAFs functions as a form of greenwashing that obscures the true environmental cost of expanding flight frequencies and routes. By focusing heavily on fuel substitution, the network argues that airlines like Air New Zealand can claim progress on climate goals while simultaneously increasing overall passenger numbers, thus offsetting the per-flight emission reductions achieved by the new fuels.
Response to the Transatlantic SAF Flight
The network’s skepticism was further articulated in a response published in November 2023 concerning a high-profile transatlantic flight powered by Sustainable Aviation Fuels. Stay Grounded used this event to highlight the limitations of SAFs as a standalone solution. The organization pointed out that the scalability of current SAF production remains limited and that the land-use changes required for biofuel feedstocks can create secondary environmental impacts, such as deforestation and biodiversity loss. Additionally, the network emphasized that the high cost of SAFs often excludes smaller economies and increases ticket prices, potentially exacerbating social inequalities in access to air travel.
Through these critiques, Stay Grounded advocates for a more holistic approach to aviation decarbonization. This includes stricter caps on total aviation emissions, greater investment in rail and maritime alternatives, and a just transition for workers in the aviation sector. The network contends that without these complementary measures, the push for Sustainable Aviation Fuels risks becoming a distraction from the urgent need to reduce the overall volume of air travel to meet global climate targets.
Policy Proposals: The Frequent Flying Levy
In October 2024, Stay Grounded collaborated with the New Economics Foundation to publish a detailed policy proposal centered on a "Frequent Flying Levy." This report outlines a mechanism designed to directly address the disproportionate carbon footprint of regular air travelers, who account for a significant share of aviation emissions despite representing a minority of the global population. The levy is structured to target high-frequency flyers, aiming to create a more equitable distribution of the climate costs associated with air travel.
Economic and Environmental Projections
The analysis projects that implementing this levy could generate approximately €64 billion in annual revenue. This financial inflow is intended to fund broader sustainable transport infrastructure and climate mitigation strategies, thereby addressing the often-cited issue of ineffective or duplicitous climate strategies in the aviation sector. From an environmental perspective, the report estimates that the levy could drive a 20% reduction in aviation emissions. This reduction is achieved by creating a direct price signal that encourages frequent travelers to reduce their flight frequency or opt for alternative transport modes where feasible.
Broad Endorsement and Coalition Support
The proposal has garnered significant support from within the climate justice and sustainable transport communities. It has been endorsed by 90 organizations and 47 academics, reflecting a broad consensus on the need for targeted policy interventions in the aviation sector. This endorsement underscores the network's ability to unite local airport opposition groups, NGOs, trade unions, and academics around a concrete policy framework. The collaboration with the New Economics Foundation highlights Stay Grounded's strategy of combining grassroots activism with rigorous economic analysis to advocate for a just reduction of aviation.
Significance
Stay Grounded represents a structural shift in climate activism by challenging the dominant narrative that technological innovation alone can decarbonize the aviation sector. Founded in 2016, the organization emerged as a coordinated response to what its members identified as ineffective or duplicitous climate strategies within the global transport industry. Rather than accepting the aviation industry’s growth plans as inevitable, the network advocates for a just reduction in air travel as a necessary component of addressing climate change. This position places Stay Grounded in direct opposition to the prevailing view that efficiency gains, sustainable aviation fuels, and electrification will be sufficient to mitigate the sector’s carbon footprint without significant modal shifts or volume reductions.
Counter-Narrative to Industry Growth
The network functions as a major counter-narrative to the expansionist policies of global aviation stakeholders. By uniting more than 200 member organizations, including local airport opposition groups, climate justice activists, NGOs, trade unions, and academics, Stay Grounded amplifies diverse perspectives that are often marginalized in mainstream climate policy discussions. The coalition’s structure allows for localized resistance to specific airport expansions while contributing to a broader global campaign against the systemic reliance on air travel. This dual approach enables the network to address both the immediate impacts of airport infrastructure on local communities and the cumulative effect of aviation emissions on global climate targets.
Focus on Structural Reduction
Central to Stay Grounded’s significance is its emphasis on structural reduction rather than incremental improvements. The organization argues that without a deliberate decrease in the volume of air travel, the aviation sector will continue to exert disproportionate pressure on climate systems. This perspective challenges the assumption that consumer choice and market mechanisms will drive sufficient change. Instead, the network promotes policy interventions and collective action aimed at reducing aviation’s share of the global transport mix. By fostering sustainable transport alternatives and highlighting the social and environmental costs of unchecked aviation growth, Stay Grounded provides a framework for re-evaluating the role of air travel in a climate-constrained world.