I get ya, but based on the 4500-6500kg/hr, even if every plane was a 707 or something burning at that high rate - probably half of them are, with the other half being anything from a Cesna to a Gulfstream that's burning an order of magnitude less fuel per hour - we can conclude that about 6 times more fuel is being burned by cars at any given time, based on that fuel burning rate being 930 times greater than a typical car on the highway (circa 28mpg).

However, I think I fully agree with your point now, because burning 1/6th the fuel while transporting only 1/25th the number of people (3-ish million vs 75-ish million) seems like a bad tradeoff, even when factoring in that planes move 6x faster (perhaps 4x, depending on distance, after factoring in to/from airport drive, security, etc.).

I get ya, but based on the 4500-6500kg/hr, even if every plane was a 707 or something burning at that high rate - probably half of them are, with the other half being anything from a Cesna to a Gulfstream that's burning an order of magnitude less fuel per hour - we can conclude that about 6 times more fuel is being burned by cars at any given time, based on that fuel burning rate being 930 times greater than a typical car on the highway (circa 28mpg).

However, I think I fully agree with your point now, because burning 1/6th the fuel while transporting only 1/25th the number of people (3-ish million vs 75-ish million) seems like a bad tradeoff.