Stakeholders are not doing enough to help the commercial air transport sector address its environmental impact, leaving airlines in danger of missing near- and long-term targets, in the view of American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom.
Speaking at the IATA World Sustainability Symposium in Miami on 24 September, Isom said that while his airline and others are making progress on the net-zero journey, “bold and aggressive” actions are needed from stakeholders.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t sound the alarm; we’re not moving fast enough,” he states.
“We risk falling short of both our short and long-term climate goals without a lot more investment, smarter policies and fast scaling of technological solutions.”
Among specific areas where Isom believes faster progress is required, he cites a need for policymakers globally “to create the right conditions for… investment in the expansion of new industries like sustainable aviation fuel”.
He further calls on governments to modernise airspace, for aircraft manufacturers to invest “aggressively” in the next generation of aircraft, for “innovators and scientists” to work on breakthrough technologies, and for public and private stakeholders to work more closely together.
More broadly, Isom suggests that scaling the use of new technologies and fuels will require “unprecedented” collaboration among airlines and other stakeholders.
And when it comes to paying for the net-zero transition, investment must come from a range of sources, he insists, particularly given the thin margins experienced in the airline sector.
“The actions each of us can take within our own operations and the scale of investment that we can each absorb individually are not going to be enough to move the needle,” Isom states. “We must keep working together – none of us can do this alone.”
Isom frames action on sustainability as critical for the airline sector’s future.
“It’s difficult to overstate the challenge that climate change presents for our industry,” he says.
