Standardized data key to air industry sustainability

Commercial aviation accounts for 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure that “could increase to 20% by 2050 without major intervention,” according to Sophie Carkeek, senior strategist at ATPCO . She says the situation requires a “sense of urgency.”

“With the threats of climate change mounting,” Carkeek adds, “the travel industry has more challenges than we have solutions.”

Carkeek and other industry experts called on the airline industry to unify around common global measurements, during a session at the ATPCO Elevate 2022 event Tuesday, “Galvanizing green flight shopping, from standardizing datasets to communicating with customers.”

Panelists say sustainable aviation initiatives can only work with transparency and industry standardization.

Michael Vitalo, senior director of technical product management for travel at SAP Concur , cites a survey of 4,000 business travelers. Ninety-four percent said they “were keen to make more sustainable trips” by combining two trips into one, taking a train instead of flying or taking mass transit instead of a car.

The industry needs to “leverage” that desire and “teach people about these programs and initiatives,” Vitalo says.

Senior leadership, he adds, can drive change from the top by developing a corporate culture that prioritizes sustainable travel.

Says Marion Chivot-Legris, head of sustainability for North America at Air France-KLM , “the pandemic has put a big spotlight on our industry.”

“People are more willing to ask questions. They’re a bit more curious about, ‘What are the solutions? What is the innovation for your sector?’”

Still, when it comes to consumers taking action and paying more for sustainable travel, “we’re not there yet,” Chivot-Legris says.

She adds that Europe is the leader in sustainable air travel and that the regulatory landscape is helping to shape the transition globally.

“Here in North America, we have a true opportunity to set the standards for ourselves… and not wait for mandatory regulatory constraint,” Chivot-Legris says.

Companies should make a “long-term investment” in gathering data, tracking progress and explaining it to the public.

“We have data, but how do we make sure it’s consistent and visible?” she says. “We have so many different calculators between airlines, so it’s difficult for a consumer to compare.”

With airlines projected to have 10 billion passengers by 2050, the industry needs solid measures, “and we need to communicate those measures,” says Michael Schneider, assistant director for environment and sustainability at IATA . “Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is an important part of this journey.”

Airlines have invested billions in the latest aircraft - each of them 15-20% more fuel efficient - but CO2 transparency is still lacking, according to Schneider.

“When you as a passenger look for CO2 emissions, you’ll find maybe 10 different calculators, different methodologies. You’ve got 10 different results,” he says. “This leads to passenger confusion and distrust.”

Schneider acknowledges that a one-size-fits-all solution isn’t easy to find “because there are different interests at play. But I think once we have achieved that, we’ll have a good basis for scaling up.”

According to Carkeek, at the beginning of this year, 53 airports were giving carriers access to SAF - three times as many as in 2020. But most airline passengers are unaware of SAF, she adds.

A passenger “might have all the best intentions in the world, but it’s sometimes quite difficult to find offset. You have to go to a different site sometimes, you have to input your flight details. It’s not necessarily easy,” Carkeek says.

At a recent Amadeus event , a number of carriers including Air Canada also highlighted the lack of a standard when it comes to carbon emissions as a major challenge.

Earlier this year, IATA and travel management company CWT each developed their own CO2 emissions calculators .

In August, Google received criticism for removing contrails from its CO2 estimates .