John Kerry’s family sold private jet after criticism over environmental impact

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s family has sold its private jet following criticism regarding the aircraft’s environmental impact.

Kerry’s State Department spokeswoman Whitney Smith told the Washington Examiner, “I can confirm the plane previously owned by his wife’s family was sold last summer.”

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She explained that “Secretary Kerry travels commercially in his role as special presidential envoy for climate.”

Fox News reported that Kerry’s family had owned a Gulfstream GIV-SP through its charter firm, Flying Squirrel.

The jet is now owned by AV Aviation, which is a firm based at Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Connecticut, according to the report. The firm is reportedly a subsidiary of New York City hedge fund AC Investment Management. The hedge fund is focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency, per its website.

After the aircraft’s transfer of ownership, it was requested on Aug. 22 that a Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed be placed on it. This would block the jet from being tracked publicly. Asked if Kerry had anything to do with this, Smith said “no.”

Smith also said that Kerry did not have any connection to AC Investment Management, whose subsidiary AV Aviation now owns the jet.

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Last year, Kerry emphasized that energy transitions need to happen much faster in order to save the planet from climate change.

“So, everything has to accelerate and by vast amounts,” he explained. “We have to be deploying renewables six times faster than we are today. We have to be deploying electric vehicles 20 times faster than we are today if you’re going to keep the Earth’s temperatures at 1.5 degrees [Celsius] of increase.”