In a sky full of blue, some airlines are trying to make it green.
The aviation industry as a whole only contributes around 2% of the world's emissions. But even still, the highly-visible industry has drawn the ire of environmentalists and others fighting for a more sustainable future.
Thomas Pallini/InsiderSource: Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
For Etihad, the fight to make the airline more sustainable is viewed as life or death. Tony Douglas, Etihad's chief executive officer, told Insider that airlines not taking the steps towards sustainability will be driven out of the market by customers that demand greener options for travel.
"Increasingly, travelers will make choices that do include carbon emissions and therefore, the environmental performance [of their airline,]" Tony Douglas, Etihad Airways' chief executive officer, told Insider.
We went inside one of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on which Etihad is relying to usher in a new era of sustainability. Here’s what it was like.
One aspect of their carbon footprints that airlines can control is the type of aircraft that they fly. Modern airliners are being built specifically to reduce fuel consumption and have the benefit of reducing carbon dioxide emissions while also reducing fuel costs for airlines.
Fleet renewal has been a key avenue for Etihad to become more sustainable in the short term as green technology progresses. Larger aircraft including the Boeing 777-300ER are being retired to make way for next-generation aircraft from Boeing and Airbus.
Etihad has already begun flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and will fly the Airbus A350 XWB later in 2022. Both offer double-digit percentage point reductions in fuel burn compared to previous generation aircraft thanks to new, efficient engines, the use of lightweight composite materials, and new onboard systems.
On October 23, Etihad flew what it called its "most sustainable flight ever" from London to Abu Dhabi, UAE using the Greenliner. Conducting the flight sustainably required revamping nearly every aspect, from the fuel that was used to the water bottles stocked onboard.
In business class, traditional amenity kits were restocked with green products with a focus on recyclables and products that can be composted or are biodegradable.
Chewable toothpaste replaced traditional brushing as it doesn't require water and for those that do brush, a compostable bamboo toothbrush was on offer.
Traditional water bottles were also replaced with plant-based water bottles, in which the entire bottle is produced from plant-based sources and is biodegradable and compostable.
Instead of using traditional jet fuel, pricey sustainable aviation fuel was brought to London from Amsterdam.
And to reduce fuel burn, Etihad crafted an economical flight route that avoided adverse weather and prevented the formation of harmful contrails.
Electric ground handling vehicles on the ground serviced the aircraft and bio-diesels were used on the buses that transfer passengers took from Abu Dhabi to Dubai.
The result was a truly sustainable flight that reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 72%, Etihad said, compared to the same flight in 2019.
And even then, the lack of infrastructure to handle the fuel at Heathrow Airport meant that Etihad could only achieve a 38% mixture of sustainable and traditional fuels.
"The reason why we actually do these flights is to draw people's attention to the much larger challenges here," Douglas said. "Whilst I can predict an end to the pandemic … I actually don't predict an end to the challenge of commercial aviation sustainability."
Some of the sustainable products onboard were also pricier and not ready for mass production in the same way that many single-use products are.
"They may not be production-ready but they are tests to see whether we can actually [incorporate them] in a certain way, where we can, and [then] we take it forward into business as usual," Terry Daly, Etihad's executive director of customer experience, said.
Even a plant-based water bottle can drive costs up more than what airlines can spend while keeping flights profitable. "The price isn't right yet but we have to start somewhere," Daly said of the "plant bottle."
And massive savings in carbon dioxide emissions, however, is only surpassed by the massive amount of planning and cooperation from third parties, including air traffic control.
Finding a more efficient routing required getting air traffic control to give Etihad's greenest flight special clearances and priorities that not every flight can receive.
Airlines that fail to heed the public’s calls for action on the issue, according to Douglas, might not survive to see the future of aviation.
"I kind of feel for them because not everybody has the ability to do so," Douglas said of competitors that aren't taking sustainable measures. "Having said that, I think going forward it will be the principle differentiator of who succeeds and who fails."
Passengers also win when airlines take an interest in sustainability, especially when it results in the use of newer aircraft.
Etihad is on track to have an incredibly young wide-body fleet of aircraft as it takes more deliveries from Boeing and Airbus.
Next-generation aircraft are often ideal for long-haul journeys as they come with passenger-friendly amenities including mood lighting, lower cabin altitudes, and modern seat products.
The 787-10 Dreamliner in Etihad’s configuration seats 299 passengers in a two-class configuration split between economy class and business class.
A total of 32 seats with full lie-flat capabilities fill the business class cabin, offering 73 inches of pitch and 22 inches of width.
Source: SeatGuru
In economy class, 267 seats in a 3-3-3 configuration fill the remainder of the aircraft.
Source: SeatGuru
Each economy class seat offers between 31 and 32 inches of pitch and 17.1 inches of width.
Source: SeatGuru
Etihad also has to account for how its sustainable push will impact the glitzy experience for which the airline is known. The airline industry is so competitive that any loss of customers because of a perceived degradation in Etihad's product could be devastating.
"It does appear that an authentic, genuine move to sustainability is one that won't compromise a guest's experience," Youlten said. "Ultimately, if we're making a sacrifice there, that's unsustainable from a business perspective."
But Etihad also realizes that it might lose its most lucrative travelers, namely corporate travelers, if it doesn't adopt sustainable measures, which could be a death blow to any airline.
Via PakApNews