Airline Perspective

Current proposals to mitigate emissions from air travel by IATA will be insufficient to meet Paris Agreement Goals. More drastic transformation in the airline industry is needed. Airlines can benefit by engaging in climate mitigation strategies, which represent strategic opportunities both in the short- and long term. The industry has made progress on emission reductions by efficiency gains in technology, route optimization, and aircraft design. However, future gains in these areas are likely to be marginal only. The most promising strategies are in “consistency” and “sufficiency.” The consistency strategies focus on replacing kerosene with synthetic fuels in the long term (and biofuels in the short term). The sufficiency strategy focuses on reducing (demand for) flights, for example, by partnering with high-speed rail, especially on short-haul routes and raising ticket prices. Policy support is needed for both consistency and sufficiency strategies to scale up and commercialize synthetic fuels and other alternative technologies and level the competitive playing field for ticket prices. The upside-down pyramid model can help airlines to identify the most impactful climate mitigation strategies, starting with “avoid,” then “reduce,” “switch,” and finally “offset.” Offsetting through compensation is a last resort option available to airlines, as offsetting schemes are typically fraught with problems and do little to mitigate climate change. A key factor for success is selecting the right compensation schemes.