New Starbucks CEO allowed company jet for 1600km commute

New Starbucks chief executive Brian Niccol is still expected to work from the office at least three days a week, and also have a home in Seattle. Photo / Benjamin Rasussen, The New York Times

Starbucks is giving its incoming chief executive Brian Niccol access to a company-owned jet to commute roughly 1000 miles (1600km) to its headquarters in Seattle, a perk that sparked criticism from activists and others concerned about the environmental impact of private jets.

In its offer letter to Niccol, Starbucks said he would not be required to relocate.

Instead, Starbucks would establish a small remote office in Newport Beach, California - and Niccol “will be eligible to use the Company aircraft for … travel between your city of residence and the Company’s headquarters,” stated the letter dated August 11 and made public in an SEC filing.

Starbucks’s hybrid work policy requires employees at its Seattle headquarters who live within commuting distance to work from the office at least three days a week, and Niccol is expected to meet or exceed these guidelines and also have a home in Seattle.

“Brian’s primary office and a majority of his time will be spent in our Seattle Support Center or out visiting partners and customers in our stores, roasteries, roasting facilities and offices around the world,” Starbucks spokesman Andrew Trull said in an emailed statement Thursday.

“Brian’s schedule will meet or exceed the hybrid work guidelines and workplace expectations we have for all partners.”

Public records list Niccol’s address in Newport Beach, some 992 miles from Seattle. Niccol’s previous role was chief executive of Chipotle Mexican Grill - the headquarters of which he relocated from Denver to Newport Beach.

Niccol is expected in Seattle “as is required to perform your duties and responsibilities,” according to the letter. The coffee chain will also offer him temporary housing in Seattle for up to three months until he has secured “permanent secondary housing.”

Environmental scientists and climate activists say private jets emit a disproportionately damaging carbon footprint compared with other forms of transportation.

“As the world faces unprecedented heat waves, droughts, floods and other dire consequences of an accelerating climate crisis, it is unjustifiable for companies to offer company aircraft as employee perks,” Clara Thompson, a Greenpeace climate activist, said in an email Thursday.

“These jets are a stark symbol of social and climate injustice, where a privileged few indulge in the most environmentally damaging form of travel for mere convenience.”

According to a report by Transport & Environment, a European clean-transportation advocacy group, a private jet can emit 2 metric tons of carbon dioxide in an hour.

For comparison, the report said, the average European Union citizen produces about 8.2 tons of emissions over the course of a year.

In 2020, Starbucks set itself a public target to reduce its carbon emissions “in our direct operations and supply chain” by half by 2030 - and says it is still committed to this goal.

At the time, it said its goal was to eventually become “resource-positive,” by storing more carbon than it emits.

In March, Starbucks’s own environmental and sustainability assessment said the coffee chain’s total emissions increased by 8 percent compared with baseline levels in 2010.

“Going to need a lot more paper straws for this one,” joked one user on X in reaction to reports about Niccol’s expected use of the private jet, referencing Starbucks’s policy of introducing sustainable straws to reduce landfill waste. “Don’t preach about sustainability,” another said.

Niccol, who helped revive the fortunes of Chipotle, will officially take on his role at Starbucks on September 9. He replaces Laxman Narasimhan, who the company announced this month was stepping down with immediate effect.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s registry, Starbucks operates a 2007 Gulfstream G550 jet through its Seattle-based subsidiary Starbucks Capital Asset Leasing. It was not immediately clear whether this is the aircraft Niccol would be using.

By Leo Sands. Taylor Telford and Aaron Gregg contributed to this report.

-Washington Post