Delta Airlines will certainly be affected by climate change. Delta is a global leader in the airline industry, an industry that both significantly contributes to and will be massively affected by climate change. While Delta Airlines has acted swiftly to hopefully address its contribution to climate change, it still needs to build greater resiliency in its business model to account for its margins will be impacted by climate change.<\/p>\n
To start, Delta is a leader in the airline industry, an industry which significantly contributes to climate change. The global airline industry produced around 2% of all human-based carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2015, or about the same as the entire country of Germany1<\/sup>, making it a large absolute source of emissions. This figure is only expected to increase as increasing prosperity in developing countries increases overall global air travel. Airlines are also responsible for 12% of CO2 emissions from all transport sources2<\/sup>, making it a large emitter relative to the broader transport category. The fact that airlines are significant emitters in both absolute and relative terms makes them likely targets for more stringent regulation by national and international governing institutions.<\/p>\n Delta appears to have taken active steps to get ahead of the curve on this front. In its 2015 Corporate Responsibility Report3<\/sup>, Delta lays out the measures it is implementing to reduce its environmental footprint. First, it focuses on improving compliance with environmental law and regulation by performing audits and publishing its performance vis-a-visa key environmental indicators, such as CO2 emissions, ozone depleting substance emissions, and waste management goals. Second, it also highlights the efforts that the International Air Transport Association (IATA), of which Delta is an important member, is making to work cooperatively with international regulatory bodies to craft regulation to limit airline emissions. In fact, this year the IATA and the United Nations jointly announced the first set of international binding limits on carbon dioxide emissions for the airline industry that will take effect in 20284<\/sup>. In this regard, Delta is playing a key role in shaping how climate change regulation affects the company in the industry.<\/p>\n However, Delta\u2019s business model will be significantly affected by the effects of climate change. On the revenue side, Delta will be impacted by climate change in several ways. Unpredictable, extreme weather events such as thunderstorms or snow storms lead to cancelled flights and reduce Delta\u2019s revenues. Climate change is increasing the odds of more extreme weather events taking place5<\/sup>. More frequent extreme weather events will lead to a greater number of cancelled flights and decreased revenues for Delta. Also, Delta\u2019s revenues rely on airports in many coastal cities to serve as popular destinations for both business and leisure traveler. However, climate change is expected to have a number of negative effects near stemming from climate change will threaten coastal cities\u2019 viability as secure revenue generators for Delta.<\/p>\n Climate change will increase costs for Delta as well. The more frequent extreme weather events associated with climate change will generate higher maintenance costs for Delta.\u00a0 The company will be required to perform more frequent and more intense maintenance actions on its fleet because of the damage done from extreme weather events. Also, increased extreme weather events will cause greater damage on airport runways7<\/sup>. Leading airlines, like Delta, are typically at least partially responsible for covering runway maintenance costs at airports, so this will increase costs on Delta. Finally, recent scientific research by Paul Williams shows that climate change will increase airline\u2019s operational costs while flying in jet streams8<\/sup>. Jet streams are fast-moving air currents within the upper atmosphere that typically flow from east to west, and they are fueled by temperature differentials in the atmosphere. William\u2019s research predicts that temperature changes associated with climate change will increase jet stream speeds, but not its impact will not be felt in equal directions. For example, the changes in the transatlantic jet stream his will decrease the throughput time of eastward transatlantic flights by four minutes, but it will increase the throughput time of the westward transatlantic flight by 5 minutes and 18 seconds. This means the throughput time of the roundtrip transatlantic flight will increase by 1 minute and 18 seconds, leading to increased fuel and other operational costs for airlines like Delta.<\/p>\n Delta\u2019s risks from climate change are especially acute, because the airline industry is a low-margin business. Climate change will hurt Delta\u2019s margins, both from the revenue side and the cost side. Therefore, it is critical that Delta builds more resiliency in its business model to protect itself from these future margin risks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (759 words)<\/p>\n 1 – http:\/\/www.atag.org\/facts-and-figures.html<\/a><\/p>\n 2 – Ibid<\/p>\n 3 – https:\/\/www.delta.com\/content\/dam\/delta-www\/about-delta\/corporate-responsibility\/2015DeltaAirLines_CorporateResponsibilityReport.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n 4 – http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/02\/09\/business\/energy-environment\/un-agency-proposes-limits-on-airlines-carbon-emissions.html<\/a><\/p>\n 5 – https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/climate-change-science\/understanding-link-between-climate-change-and-extreme-weather<\/a><\/p>\n 6 – https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/climate-impacts\/climate-impacts-coastal-areas<\/a><\/p>\n 7 – https:\/\/www.greenbiz.com\/article\/4-ways-climate-change-could-ground-airline-industry<\/a><\/p>\n