Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) released (19-Sep-2023) its Net-Zero Roadmap plan, comprising more than 40 actions intended to achieve its near term emission reduction goals and its 2050 net zero target. The plan includes the following commitments:

• The Building One facility at New York Newark Liberty International Airport will be retrofitted as the first fossil fuel free building in the agency and is intended to be the prototype for the rollout across the agency's building stock. The retrofit is scheduled for completion in 2025;
• Streamlined process for renewable energy usage and onsite solar installations, including a 5MW solar array at Newark Airport and initiating the construction of New York's largest solar plus storage system at New York John F Kennedy International Airport;
• The light duty non-emergency vehicle fleet will be 50% electric by 2025 through vehicles already acquired or ordered by the agency, with a further target to make the entire fleet electric by 2028;
• Reach 1000 pieces of electric ground support equipment in operation at the agency's airports.

PANYNJ also reported it is on track to meet its interim goals of a 35% reduction in direct emissions by 2025 and a 50% reduction by 2030. [more - original PR]

Australia's Government launched (22-Sep-2023) a new strategic action plan to encourage women to take up long term careers in the aviation industry. The plan draws on learnings from the first four years of the Women in the Aviation Industry Initiative, which aims to support women by providing mentoring, guidance and networking opportunities. Over AUD1.3 million (USD837,309) will be made available over the next financial year to fund activities related to leadership and culture, visibility and awareness, collaboration and continuous improvement as outlined in the plan. The government expects to release a formal process to seek proposals for projects in Oct-2023. [more - original PR]

Rolls-Royce partnered (22-Sep-2023) with Zero Petroleum to promote further development of Rolls-Royce's power and propulsion solutions with fossil free synthetic fuels. The agreement has the potential to include Zero's entire range of synthetic fuels with data gathered from engine testing used to prove the credentials required to achieve international fuel certification standards. Zero Petroleum CEO Paddy Lowe stated: "We have proven the genuine capabilities of our fuels in a wide variety of vehicles - including a light aircraft, a supercar and a chainsaw. As we move towards full certification of our fuels, we are starting to put in place the commercial realisation of these demonstrations and aim to be running our first large scale production plant two years from now". [more - original PR]

Dominican Republic received (22-Sep-2023) seven million tourists over the first three quarters of 2023, up 25% year-on-year. Travellers from the US, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany and Spain accounted for 81% of tourist arrivals. The Ministry of Tourism predicted total arrivals for 2023 will reach 10 million, which would mark a record figure for the nation. [more - original PR]

Qantas Group announced (25-Sep-2023) plans to invest AUD80 million (USD51.5 million) in customer improvements across FY2024, in addition to the AUD150 million (USD96.6 million) previously budgeted, which will be funded from profits. The group stated the investment will aim to address a number of customer "pain points" through measures such as enhancing contact centre resourcing and training, increasing the number of seats which can be redeemed through frequent flyer points and more generous recovery support following operational issues. The airline is also working to accelerate several initiatives which are already underway, such as re-platforming the Qantas app. [more - original PR]

Qantas Group chairman Richard Goyder stated (20-Sep-2023) the board will reduce short term incentives for senior executives by 20% for FY2023, in recognition of the "customer and brand impact of cumulative events". After applying the 20% reduction, the board will withhold the balance of the FY2023 short term incentive for senior executives as part of further "clawback provisions". Mr Goyder said in regards to former CEO Alan Joyce's remuneration for FY2023, in addition to AUD2.2 million (USD1.42 million) in short term bonuses that have been withheld, a further AUD8.3 million (USD5.35 million) of a total adjusted AUD21.4 million (USD13.80 million) is subject to clawback should the board determine that necessary. Mr Goyder added: "The board has significantly increased the weighting on customer outcomes for remuneration in FY2024 and introduced it as a metric on future long term incentives". Mr Goyder said the scorecard that determines short term incentive payments has a number of financial and non-financial measures, including safety, customer satisfaction and emissions reduction. He noted: "While customer satisfaction levels improved during the year, they are well below where they should be. As a result, this part of the scorecard was judged at zero out of a possible 20% and this had a corresponding impact on senior executive pay". [more - original PR]