British Airways have been flying empty planes on some routes because they have no cabin crew to staff them. In the last two weeks empty planes have flown between Britain, Canada and the US. BA said the practice is extremely rare and only occurs when there is no cabin crew available for the flights. He also said that it is better to fly empty planes one way if the return leg is full rather than the cancel both legs. In a time when the phrase carbon footprint is being used daily, flying empty planes seems ridiculous.