Taylor Swift's Private Jet Flew on 13-Minute Journey to Travel 28 Miles

A private jet linked to Taylor Swift flew for 13 minutes to land at a destination 28 miles away from its starting point late last month, according to flight tracking information posted by Jack Sweeney.

Per the tracking account @SwiftJetNextDay on X, formerly Twitter, the jet traveled from Cahokia/St Louis, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri, on January 30. To avoid falling foul of the social media platform's rules, Sweeney shares information on trips taken by Swift's private jets 24 hours after they've been taken.

Records provided by the Federal Aviation Authority's (FAA) website show that Swift sold one of her two private jets on the same day that the flight took place.

According to the information, Swift parted ways with her Dassault Falcon 900. While it was previously listed under a company tied to the musician's business address in Nashville, the jet is now registered to a Missouri-based business.

Swift, whose holding company acquired the jet in 2009, still has a Dassault 7X aircraft registered to her business address. Sweeney, who has been sent a cease-and-desist letter over his coverage of Swift's flights, acknowledged the sale in an X post on Wednesday.

"The last few flights on this account are right around the time that N898TS was sold," he wrote. "Registration for the aircraft transferred 2/4/2024. These short flights are likely maintenance or demo flights."

Sweeney concluded his post by stating that Swift currently has one private jet. Newsweek has contacted a representative of Swift via email for comment.

College student Sweeney runs a number of social media accounts that track and log the comings and goings of aircraft owned by politicians and celebrities, including Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner.

His accounts gained traction two years ago amid the February 2022 start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as he tracked the private jets of Russian oligarchs. Sweeney has also shared the estimated carbon footprints of flights, as public figures continue to face criticism of the environmental impact of their luxury travels.

At the time, it was revealed that Sweeney had been using publicly available aerospace telemetry on the ADS-B website, as well as a sophisticated program he made to match transponder frequencies and separately available anonymous flight plans, to track the private flights of the mega-rich. This week, Sweeney stated that he uses publicly available data from the FAA.

However, Swift's lawyers have suggested that Sweeney's social media accounts are aiding the singer's stalkers and threatening her safety. If Sweeney doesn't stop tracking her flights, they have threatened to take legal action, claiming that Swift and her family have suffered "direct and irreparable harm, as well as emotional and physical distress" as a result of his jet tracker account.

"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. Ms. Swift has dealt with stalkers and other individuals who wish her harm," part of the letter reads. Last month, a man was arrested outside Swift's New York City home for allegedly stalking the star.

In an email to Newsweek, University of Central Florida student Sweeney has hit back at the claims, insisting that there is legitimate information that he shares online.

"Swift's team suggests that I have no legitimate interest in sharing jet information, which is fundamentally incorrect," he told Newsweek. "Her fans, who have grown the TaylorSwiftJets accounts and subreddit, are the ones truly interested. These tracking accounts consistently have more supporters and fans."

An example of fan and news interest in Swift's travels, Sweeney said, is coverage of the musician facing a journey that will see her traveling through time if she is to be on hand to support her boyfriend, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, as his team competes in the Super Bowl LVIII on February 11.

Swift will perform in Tokyo on February 7-10. Following the final show, she would need to jump on a U.S.-bound flight soon afterward to make the approximate 11.5-hour flight that would get her to Las Vegas with several hours to spare.

"When the Embassy of Japan in the USA expresses confidence that Swift can make a flight from Tokyo to the Super Bowl, it indicates public interest," Sweeney told Newsweek. "Therefore, one should reasonably expect that their jet will be tracked, whether or not I'm the one doing it, as it is public information after all."

A spokesperson for Swift told Newsweek in response to Sweeney's statement: "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."

Swift's private jet usage has been a talking point in recent years. In 2022, she faced backlash after a report by environmentally oriented marketing firm Yard found at that time that her extensive use of a private jet made her the biggest celebrity polluter of the year up to that point.

The report used publicly available data to compile a list of the top greenhouse gas-emitting celebrities, based on their routine use of private jets. Swift came out on top, with a total of 170 flights on her private jet that added up to nearly 16 days in the air.

"Taylor's jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals," a spokesperson for Swift told Newsweek at the time. "To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect."

The conversation about Swift's jet use continued in 2023, as the singer-songwriter flew between New York and Kansas City to see her partner Kelce. She also made trips in between performances in South America for her ongoing Eras tour. The star was criticized after it was revealed her private jet flights produced 138 tons of CO2 emissions in just three months.

According to data provided by MyClimate Carbon Tracker, Swift does not crack the top 30 celebrities when it comes to private jet carbon emissions.