Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | B | Business Travel News

Virgin leading effort to reduce C[O.sub.2] emissions.

Article Excerpt
Virgin Atlantic chairman Richard Branson late last month called on the transportation industry to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, proposing a number of initiatives that he said would slash such greenhouse gases by up to 25 percent if adopted. While serving as the latest call to action for airlines specifically and the travel industry at large to implement environmentally friendly travel operations, domestic carriers have been in the midst of cutting emissions and jet fuel consumption amid high fuel costs that for years have been eating further into the industry's earnings.

Yet, proponents of further environmental protection say airlines could do more to curb C[O.sub.2] emissions and offset the transportation sector's impact on the environment.

The Air Transport Association of America said that since 2000 alone its member carriers--including American, Continental, Delta, JetBlue, Northwest, Southwest, United and US Airways--have in sum increased fuel efficiency by 23 percent.

James May, ATA president and CEO, this summer at the International Civil Aviation Organization-Airports Council International Global Air Transport Outlook Conference in Montreal touted the gains domestic carriers have made. Whether driven by the desire for cost reductions or corporate social responsibility, the results have been dramatic and should be ongoing, ATA's May noted. "By the next decade, working together, we must figure out how to deal prudently with climate change," he said. "For the airline industry, the way forward is to continue to improve fuel efficiency, which directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. carriers have made great strides in improving...