Sustainability in aviation: Delta Air’s goals add to dialogue

It is not surprising that Delta Air Lines has declared fairly ambitious plans to become carbon neutral over the next decade and is spending USD1 billion to meet that goal. Throughout 2019 Delta's executives fielded questions about sustainability, and the airline's management pledged that in 2020 the company would exert more of an active voice in conversations about aviation's role in combating climate change.

Delta's plans to achieve carbon neutrality have been widely deconstructed since the airline unveiled its environmental goals, and in some ways there are more questions than answers regarding how the company will attain its targets. But Delta seems aware of the challenges associated with its goals, particularly with growing scepticism about carbon offsetting.

With limited room for manouevre in the short term, all airlines are searching for ways of mitigating environmental damage, most tellingly by the use of newer, more efficient aircraft.