Biofuels and carbon offsets power Delta’s first carbon-neutral flights

• Delta Air Lines to take 20 carbon-neutral new aircraft deliveries from the Airbus final assembly line in Mobile, Ala.
• Using biofuels and carbon offsets in coordination with Air BP, this move is Delta’s latest sustainability action toward its long-term goal of a 50 percent carbon emission reduction by 2050.
• The biofuel achieves more than an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis.

The newest A321 in Delta’s fleet will make its initial flight today – completely carbon-neutral, a first for Delta as it continues to make strategic moves to bolster its ongoing sustainability commitments.

Delta has partnered with Air BP to supply biofuels for an initial 20 delivery flights from the Airbus final assembly line in Mobile, Ala. which are manufactured and refined via sustainable sources and processes. The fuel achieves more than an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis.

The first flight will depart Mobile, Ala. for a facility in Kansas City where final induction work will be performed before the aircraft moves into service for Delta’s customers across its extensive domestic route network.

Since 2005, the airline has reduced its jet fuel consumption, leading to an 11 percent decrease in emissions as it works toward its long-term goal of achieving carbon-neutral growth and reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050. Delta was the first and only U.S. airline to voluntarily cap carbon emissions at 2012 levels by purchasing carbon offsets ahead of the ICAO CORSIA implementation, which caps international emissions at 2019/2020 levels.

Customers can join Delta in offsetting the environmental impact of their flights by visiting delta.com/co2.

“Airbus is committed to being part of the solution for meeting aviation’s global CO2 emissions reduction targets,” said Simone Rauer, Head of Aircraft Operations for Environmental Affairs at Airbus. “Contributing to a lasting decrease of our industry’s carbon footprint is key to ensuring a sustainable future for aviation.”

Delta is also the first U.S. airline to recycle aluminum cans, plastic bottles and cups, and newspapers and magazines from aircraft, accounting for the recycling of more than 3 million pounds of aluminum from onboard waste. Delta is also removing a variety of single-use plastic items, including stir sticks, wrappers, utensils and straws from its aircraft and Sky Clubs, and removed all plastic wrapping from international Main Cabin cutlery and its new amenity kits for all cabins. These efforts will divert over 300,000 pounds of plastic from landfills each year.

This sustainability work and more has resulted in Delta being awarded the Vision for America Award by Keep America Beautiful in 2017 and the Captain Planet Foundation’s Superhero Corporate Award in 2018, as well as being named to the FTSE4Good Index four consecutive years and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for eight consecutive years.

Editor's notes - about Air BP

• As the aviation division of BP, Air BP is one of the world’s leading suppliers of aviation fuel products and services. We have been investing in the aviation industry for over 90 years to keep people flying safely around the world. We supply around 6.6 billion gallons of aviation fuel a year; fuelling over 6,000 flights a day at over 800 locations in more than 55 countries - that's more than four planes a minute.

• Our customers include commercial airlines, the military, business and private aircraft owners, airports and airfield operators. We have a wide range of services to support our fuel offer including the design, build and operation of fuelling facilities, technical consultancy and training, low carbon solutions, the Sterling Card for efficient general aviation refuelling and innovative digital platforms to increase efficiency and reduce risk.