Alaska Airlines’ multi-faceted approach to achieving net zero by 2040

To reach the 2040 goal, Alaska Airlines has developed a comprehensive five-part path. The plan includes focusing on operational efficiency, fleet modernisation, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), new propulsion technologies, and the use of carbon credits as a last resort.

Rakow discusses the importance of employee and customer engagement in advancing the airline’s sustainability goals. She shares the airline’s unique bonus program that ties 10% of every employee’s annual bonus to achieving carbon intensity targets. Rakow also discusses the airline’s efforts to engage customers in sustainability initiatives by enabling the purchase of nature-based offsets and SAF credits, and offering loyalty rewards.

Rakow emphasises the significance of collaborations with companies like Microsoft and Twelve in developing and utilising SAF. She also delves into the airline’s investments in future technologies, such as their partnership with ZeroAvia to develop hydrogen-electric powertrains for regional aircraft, and the role of the airline’s venture investment arm, Alaska Star Ventures, in identifying and supporting innovations that accelerate the path to net zero emissions.

Please note: Alaska Airlines established its headquarters in Seattle in the early 1960s. The decade was misstated in the episode. 

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