University of Central Florida junior Jack Sweeney continues to track Taylor Swift’s flights despite receiving a cease-and-desist letter from her legal advisors last December. Sweeney reported to a British publication that Swift’s two private jets flew a combined 178,000 miles last year. Recently, he released a YouTube video claiming that her jets flew enough miles to circle the globe seven times and emitted 1,200 tons of CO2.
Sweeney first gained attention in 2020 for tracking Elon Musk’s flights on an X (formerly Twitter) account called ElonJet, which received similar cease-and-desist notices and was eventually suspended. However, the account remains active on other social media platforms. Sweeney then created a new account on X, @ElonJetNextDay, which posts Musk’s flight information with a 24-hour delay to comply with X’s rules.
Before focusing on Swift, Sweeney also tracked the flights of Russian oligarchs, leading to another account suspension. “While this may be a game to you, or an avenue that you hope will earn you wealth or fame, it is a life-or-death matter for our client,” read Swift’s cease-and-desist letter. A spokesperson for Swift told The Sun that Sweeney’s Instagram account dedicated to Swift’s jet had a “connection” to a man arrested outside her Manhattan townhouse in January, though the exact nature of the connection was unclear.
Since receiving the letter, Sweeney told The Sun he hasn’t heard from Swift’s lawyers. “It’s pretty much like with Elon; they’ll say something to intimidate the smaller person,” he said. “It’s the attention they’re getting that they don’t like.”
Majoring in information technology, Sweeney has aspirations of working for SpaceX or Tesla. He told the BBC he harbors no ill will towards Swift or Musk but believes that the public should have access to this information to see how frequently celebrities fly. He also tracks the jets of other celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, aiming for transparency and fairness.
However, some argue that this kind of flight tracking violates privacy and could pose security risks. Doug Carr, senior vice president of safety, security, sustainability, and international affairs for the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), told Robb Report that such tracking is comparable to anyone picking up your license plate to see who is in the car and where you are going. He emphasized that it’s not just about the lifestyles of the rich and famous but also about basic security concerns, pointing out that real-time tracking is illegal elsewhere.
The NBAA has seen broader impacts from this practice, including corporate espionage and personal confrontations. Martha King, cofounder of pilot-training academy King Schools, mentioned how privacy concerns became personal when an unstable individual confronted one of their members, making them more cautious about flying into unknown airports.
Public scrutiny has indeed had some effects. For instance, Bernard Arnault of LVMH sold his Bombardier Global jet in 2022 after facing intense public
