Consultant Insight: Going green in uncertain times

While the airline industry faces uncertain times due to COVID-19, many carriers are making significant changes to fleets and services that are having a positive impact on sustainability strategies. Delta Cargo announced this week that it has joined the Sustainable Air Freight Alliance (SAFA) in a move that aligns with Delta’s pledge earlier this year to become the world’s first carbon-neutral airline. SAFA is a collaboration between shippers, freight forwarders and airlines that aims to reduce its members’ environmental footprint by tracking and reducing emissions and promoting responsible freight transport. It is facilitated by the global nonprofit business network Business for Social Responsibility, which is dedicated to sustainability. Other SAFA members include American Airlines, Expeditors International, Kuehne+Nagel, United Airlines and UPS. According to SAFA, air transport represents around 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Delta notes that its carbon footprint constitutes its largest environmental impact, with 98% of emissions coming from its aircraft. Indeed, several airlines, including Delta, have retired older aircraft and are replacing them with more fuel-efficient ones. In a 2019 study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), the top three fuel-efficient U.S. domestic airlines were Frontier, Spirit and Southwest. Delta was ranked at No. 9 on that list. Indeed, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines have been taking advantage of reduced passenger flight demand to retire some aircraft and reduce their assets to meet current demand, for sustainability and other reasons. In a June 3 research note, Cowen investment bank said it expects U.S. airlines to shrink their fleets by 21% after the crisis. Major airlines that have announced the following fleet reductions: British Airways said it would retire its fleet of 747s. “We have committed to making our fleet more environmentally friendly as we look to reduce the size of our business to reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation,” according to a company statement. American Airlines announced in April that it would retire 20 Embraer 190s, 34 Boeing 757s, 17 Boeing 767s and nine Airbus A330-300s, along with a number of older regional aircraft. Delta said it would retire its remaining MD-88s and MD-90s by June 2, and its A320s, 767-300s, 737-700s and 777s by the end of this year. Airlines are not only retiring older fleets but also embracing biofuels. Amazon Air made a big PR splash by recently announcing a deal with Shell Aviation to receive up to 6 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in a continued effort to reduce carbon emissions. However, according to a recent Air Cargo World article , the innovation will have a smaller impact than one might think. Still, the use of biofuels continues to attract the attention of airlines such as Lufthansa, Azul and British Airways. And of course, there are other ways that the airline industry is reducing its environmental footprint. Drones are certainly a consideration, one we have written about a number of times , but electric planes are another option as well, with tests underway by such companies as Faradair and Electric Aviation Group (EAG). However, a major problem facing such companies is the size of the battery, which would add additional weight to the airplane. How the industry eventually solves for such complications will be a strong indicator of what the future of sustainability in aviation will look like.

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