{"id":13718,"date":"2016-11-04T17:47:46","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/jetblue-sustainability-is-it-all-just-a-bunch-of-hot-air\/"},"modified":"2016-11-06T17:01:48","modified_gmt":"2016-11-06T22:01:48","slug":"jetblue-sustainability-is-it-all-just-a-bunch-of-hot-air","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/jetblue-sustainability-is-it-all-just-a-bunch-of-hot-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Jetblue & Sustainability \u2013 Is it all just a bunch of hot air?"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the flight experience on Jetblue, flight attendants pass through the aisle with two bags \u2013 one for recycling and one for trash. As an impressionable customer, this lead me to the conclusion \u201cJetblue cares about recycling, so Jetblue cares about sustainability so Jetblue cares about climate change.\u201d Let\u2019s see how that shakes out.<\/p>\n

Jetblue is undoubtedly affected by climate change \u2013 in its physical manifestation, its resulting regulatory changes, and the growing pressure from constituents to care about it.<\/p>\n

Physical manifestation<\/strong><\/p>\n

As airlines contribute to the physical manifestation of climate change in the form of GHG emissions, the physical manifestation is likewise increasingly affecting air travel.<\/p>\n

First, the increased speeds of jet streams due to increased temperatures and wind speeds are likely attributable to climate change. Increased jet stream speeds may speed up certain flights and decrease others, but, on the whole, are likely to increase times of the round-trip flight[i]<\/a>. To illuminate the impact, even just a 1 minute and 18 seconds per day delay on transatlantic flights adds $22M in extra fuel and 70M extra kilograms of CO2 emitted per year.<\/p>\n

A second effect is that, with rising temperatures, flying in extremely hot weather will become increasingly challenging. Hot air is less dense which affects the output of engines as well as the aerodynamics of the plane. Therefore, taking off in hot temperatures requires more energy and runway space which is why aircraft weight reduction is a \u201chot\u201d topic in the face of climate change.<\/p>\n

International and Domestic Regulatory Action (or lack thereof)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last month, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency within the U.N., agreed on a new global market-based measure (MBM) aimed at reducing and controlling CO2 emissions from international aviation[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The MBM scheme, called Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), will start its pilot phase in 2021[2]<\/a>. Currently, 66 countries including the U.S are on board.<\/p>\n

CORSIA includes technical and operational improvement goals as well as improvements in the production and use of sustainable alternative fuels for aviation.<\/p>\n

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also expected to publish rules regulating emissions from aircraft although the slow rule-making process is discouraging. Even then, according to the New York Times, environmental groups are skeptical that the EPA will propose weak standards. The EPA, however, has suggested that any domestic rules will be of at least equivalent stringency to the ICAO rules[3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pressure from constituents<\/strong><\/p>\n

Employees, shareholders, and passengers all expect Jetblue to tackle the issue of climate change. By positioning itself as a young, forward-thinking, and caring company, Jetblue has set itself up for additional public scrutiny because of high expectations for Jetblue to \u201cdo the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is Jetblue doing?<\/strong><\/p>\n