The aviation industry must present a clear and credible strategy for achieving net-zero carbon emissions if it expects to continue its growth trajectory, delegates at the Sustainable Skies 2025 Global Summit were told today (14 May).
Speaking during a panel discussion on the future of sustainable aviation, Duncan McCourt, Chief Executive of Sustainable Aviation, a coalition of UK airlines, airports, aerospace manufacturers, fuel producers and partners, said, “In order to retain its licence to grow, the aviation industry has to show it has a credible plan to reach net zero.”
However, he dismissed significantly suppressing air travel demand as a viable solution for emissions reduction from the industry’s perspective.
“One way of reaching net zero is to hugely repress demand, which is not what the aviation industry wants,” McCourt explained. “So we have to convince stakeholders that we are on that journey and we are getting there.”
He also highlighted the role of mandates in ensuring a fair competitive environment, saying, “The reason we have a mandate is to create a level playing field so that airlines who want to do the right thing are not disadvantaged.”
Airline representatives on the panel echoed the commitment to sustainability but underscored the significant challenges ahead, particularly concerning technology and cost.
Diana Birkett Rakow, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Sustainability at Alaska Airlines, stressed the immediate need for operational efficiency while pointing to a critical hurdle: “The biggest gap is the technology that doesn’t exist today at the scale that we need it and at a commercially viable cost.”
She urged collective action, saying, “All of our energies should be focused collectively on accelerating those pathways in the timeline that we need to get where we need to go.”
As an example of proactive steps, Birkett Rakow mentioned Alaskan Airlines’ investment in Jet Zero, a company developing a blended wing body aircraft, noting, “That kind of design could reduce fuel [consumption] by 40% to 50%,” she pointed out.
Jill Blickstein, Chief Sustainability Officer at American Airlines, highlighted the financial constraints of adopting sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) at scale, particularly when a “bankable” offtake agreement is in place between a SAF producer and a buyer to provide commercial security for the provider.
“American Airlines can’t do bankable offtakes all day long. They’re just very expensive and we’re not a high-margin business that can finance that,” she said.
While acknowledging promising developments, such as the Infinium electrofuels company, she noted, “It’s one company, and it’s a little bit of fuel.”
Blickstein called for a collaborative approach, “There has to be some combination of regulation and private sector investment in a package that is going to work,” she said
A significant point of discussion was the feasibility of aligning aviation with the 1.5-degree Celsius climate target.
Blickstein expressed concerns: “This is really the crux. I think it’s highly likely that aviation will not be able to be on 1.5 because of [the lack] of the technology to help reduce our emissions. I don’t think we should be out there promising something when we don’t have a line of sight.”
She added, “This is what keeps me awake at night. I’m not asking for a pass for aviation. We have to reduce our emissions. We also have to be realistic about what we can achieve.”
Panellists at Sustainable Skies 2025, from left: Dirk Singer, SimpliFlying; Diana Birkett Rakow, Alaska Airlines; Duncan McCourt, Sustainable Aviation; Polona Gregorin, European Commission; Jill Blickstein, American Airlines
