Aviation sector navigates environment path

It’s no secret that aviation has come in for a good deal of scrutiny and criticism over its environmental impacts. The flight shaming phenomenon and proposals for a Green New Deal that would reduce and even replace air travel with other modes of transport have been in the news around the world, not just in Europe and the United States, where they respectively originated.

Less well known is that environmental sustainability has always been high on aviation’s agenda. Today’s new aircraft emit 50 percent less carbon monoxide and 90 percent less smoke and unburned hydrocarbons than those made 50 years ago, while carbon emissions from the average journey are actually half what they were in 1990.