JetBlue announced Thursday that is has followed through on its commitment to go carbon neutral on all domestic flights, making it the first airline in the United States to do so.
The company started offsetting its carbon dioxide emissions for all domestic flights in July and began investing in sustainable aviation fuel. The airline will begin using the fuel on all flights from San Francisco International Airport, the company said.
“The global pandemic reinforces the need to mitigate risks that threaten the health of our business. Our commitment to sustainability has only become more important as we prepare our business for a new climate reality,” said Joanna Geraghty, president and chief operating officer, JetBlue. “Even with a long recovery ahead following the COVID-19 pandemic, JetBlue remains focused on short- and long-term environmental opportunities, particularly lessening our largest impact – carbon emissions – and more fuel efficient flying.”
The company said its carbon reduction strategy focused on reducing emissions by investing in fuel-saving technologies and aircraft and advocating for a more fuel-efficient air traffic control system. The company said it had achieved reduced emissions on an intensity basis since 2015 and had improved 2.2 percent per available seat mile from 2018 to 2019.
Working with CarbonFund.org Foundation, JetBlue said it had offset more than 2.6 billion pounds of CO2 emissions since 2008 and will offset between 15-17 billion pounds per year on all domestic routes now. As part of its offsetting program, the company selects projects around the globe that will balance the emissions from its jet fuel. Those projects either avoid greenhouse gas emissions in favor of renewable sources, remove emissions from the atmosphere, or destroy emissions when possible. Investing in those projects offsets the amount of emissions the companies jets produce annually.