Achieving Zero Emission Rate in Aviation Industry: Challenges and Recommendations

Aviation Management1
Aviation Management
Name
Course
Instructor
Date

Aviation Management2
I. INTRODUCTION
In 2007, IATA came up with a compiled strategy on how to reduce green house gas emissions
produced by aviation. The strategy’s main goal was to achieve a zero emission rate from
commercial aircraft manufacturing within a period of 50 years.However, the process of
achieving such a goal required the adoption of a Four Pillar strategy. The pillars were technology
improvement, operational efficiency, infrastructural efficiency, and positive economic efficiency.
By June 2009, the airline industry decided to take a collective responsibility to have targets
towards achieving IATA strategic objectives set. The targets include capping carbon emissions
by 2020, improving fuel efficiency by 1.5% come 2020, and reducing carbon emissions by 50%
come 2050. In the same year (2009), the aviation industry collectively endorsed the goals
through an ICAO submission (Krishnan, 2011, pg. 3).
How to achieve the goals
All the nations in the world are required to regulate local aviation industry through their
governments. The governments are also required to take a number of measurements including:
i) Addition of international aviation regulations in the local regulations
ii) Local coordination via ICAO to reduce distortion of competition between airlines by
working on international sectoral approach
iii) Treating aviation as a global and not local industry
iv) Creating a global mindset to achieve the aviation goals
v) Ensuring that the approach is applicable on both domestic and international aviation
vi) Giving full access to the measures created beyond the aviation industry

Aviation Management3
vii) Ensuring that measures that are punitive and do not conserve the environment are not
adopted but rather, go for economic and cost effective measures as they actually help
the environment.
viii) Setting fiscal and legal frameworks for promoting investment in alternative jet fuel
that ensure low carbon emission.
ix) Perform more research activities to achieve greater fuel efficiency
x) Going for the appropriate investments that will help in the modernization of air traffic
management
xi) Ensuring that airlines are equally treated
xii) Every part of airline’s supply chain need to be addressed in regulatory effortsto create
participation of all sectors in a manner that is homogenized (Franklin, 2012)
The Challenges
Apart from security and safety, there are new challenges such as climate change that affects the
airline industry. Generally, the outlined vision would ensure a growth in zero carbon emission –
a factor to reduce climatic change. Currently, the industry produces about 2% of carbon emission
that is projected to reach 3% come 2050. As mentioned before, the onset of IATA ensures that
all the stakeholders win the industry come to terms to reduce challenges that would hinder the
achievement of the highlighted goals. Key players include Airports, manufacturers, governments,
Airlines, infrastructure providers,economy, and technology (Rouse, 2017).With the growing
carbon footprint, the whole world is at risk. Achieving a carbon neutral growth for the airline
industry requires the input of every stakeholder. With such, far much more records will be
attained. For instance, achieving a fuel efficiency of 70% within a span of 40 years ensured the
growth of a carbon neutral environment. Such was achieved through improving airframes, air

Aviation Management4
traffic management,finding alternative fuel sources, and improving airport operations.In
addition, creating a framework that would ensure increased coordination and cooperation of all
stakeholders would lead to a carbon neutral growth (CWMIFG, 2012).
II. TECHNOLOGY PILLAR
The growth of any kind of industry always depends on technological development. With
technology, the industry is able to develop alternative measures for getting cleaner jet fuel,
modernconcepts and advanced technologyfor the management of air traffic and Airframe
engines. As a result, there is need for Aerospace Manufacturers and Fuel Suppliers to coordinate
to find short and long-term action plans. For plans that are short, reduction of carbon and
modernization of air fleet should be the priority. The plans can be achieved through the
application of modern fuel technologies.The aviation industry is required to invest about USD
1.7 Trillion in the purchase of new fleet by 2020. Consequently, the same will lead to the
replacement of about 5300 aircrafts come 2020; a number that would represent 25% of the total
fleet in the industry. The process is known as drastic fleet modernizationand is purposed to
reduce the rate of carbon emission by about 20% (Krishnan, 2011, pg. 9).
Technological Roadmap
According to IATA’s scheme, the roadmap to technology is a task scheduled to help in the
reduction of carbon emission by about 15% per aircraft. The roadmap identifies that by
overhauling the technology of systems and engines will introduce aircrafts that produce less
carbon yet burn a lot of carbon. Such would include some of the modern forms of technology
that are currently being practiced including retrofitting of winglets. Such will also include further
technological advancements in the form of laminator flow, application of other composite