Delta’s sustainability efforts were on display during New York Climate Week in September, where world leaders and corporations convene to participate in sustainability dialogue to influence corporate action. Chief Sustainability Officer Amelia Deluca showcased Delta’s decarbonization efforts when she took to the stage with peers across industries during programming with Axios, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Crain’s New York, Global Business Travel Association, The Female Quotient and Deloitte.  

Across every stage, panelists and audience members were interested in hearing about the work Delta is doing with employees to reach our sustainability goals. There are many initiatives across the organization that help position Delta as a leader in sustainable aviation – work we could not accomplish without our people:  

Carbon Council

Delta teams have collaborated to drive impact through reduced weight, enhanced landing procedures, and optimizations to flight routing and speed. In 2023, Delta’s Carbon Council saved more than 21 million gallons of fuel³; and the airline is on track to save a cumulative 40 million gallons in 2024.⁴ 

APU Usage

Last year, Delta’s Carbon Council introduced new operational sustainability metrics to engage employees and unify efforts toward Delta’s sustainability goals, which includes reducing APU run-time between flights. APU refers to the auxiliary power unit, or the small engine at the back of the plane that helps provide power and temperature control while the plane is on the ground. So far, Delta has reduced APU usage across the network, resulting in 1.3 million gallons of fuel savings. 

Paper Cups

Delta is leading the way with its new paper cups, which begin to roll out across our international network this fall and will continue across the entire network in 2025.  This move will eliminate nearly 7 million pounds of single-use-plastic onboard annually and bring Delta one step closer to minimizing single-use plastics on board by 2025.  

Flight landing Procedures

Delta teams have implemented enhanced landing procedures that can help reduce jet fuel burn. For example, Delta and Boeing recently certified a low flaps landing procedure (Flaps 25) on the 717 fleet that is expected to save up to 1 million gallons per year.  

Winglets

Delta has been adding enhanced winglets and lightweight landing gear to its fleet to make them as efficient as possible. Throughout the next year, Delta will finalize its modifications of the split-scimitar winglet upgrade on the 737-800 fleet, which will save more than 3 million gallons of fuel per year. This milestone will mark the completion of Delta adding the most advanced winglet technology available to all existing fleets that can be modified.  

Green Up BRG

Delta’s dedicated business resource group Green Up is made up of more than 4,000 employees across the world in every division. Their work supports more sustainable business decisions and positively impacts the communities we live and serve, as well as raising awareness for any changes that can be made to better support a more sustainable future of travel.  

Scaling sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

With around 90% of Delta’s carbon emissions coming from jet fuel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is the most promising lever known today to accelerate the airline’s decarbonization goals. However, there isn’t nearly enough available to meet global demand for even a week, which is why Delta is doing its part to advocate with state and federal stakeholders for policies to increase production of SAF.  

Delta’s work with the Minnesota SAF Hub is reaching key milestones. For example, in Sept. 2024, Delta and the Minnesota SAF Hub announced multiple major milestones, including the very first delivery of SAF in Minnesota to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP) Airport fuel supply. Other milestones announced include the development of the first SAF blending facility in Minnesota, driven by Delta and Flint Hills Resources, which will blend up to 30 million gallons of neat SAF annually once operational and is set to be completed in Q4 2025. 

All of this work includes the collaboration of so many team members – from Global Sustainability, Government Affairs, Tech Ops, IFS and OBS, Fuel, Supply Chain, Fleet, ACS, and so many others across our customer experience and operations divisions.  

“Delta remains firmly committed on its journey to connect people to a more sustainable future of travel by reaching net-zero emissions by 2050,” added DeLuca “We know that the people we care about care about sustainability, and that when we look at every aspect of our business through that lens, we can drive meaningful change while also driving efficiencies across our business. 

To learn more about what Delta is doing to fuel a more sustainable future, check out: Sustainability | Delta Air Lines 

¹Relative to what we would have used if Delta had not undertaken any fuel efficiency and fleet renewal efforts 

²Relative to what we would have used if Delta had not undertaken any fuel efficiency and fleet renewal efforts, as measured compared to 2019 fuel consumption rates