Eleven business and general aviation associations have united to debut an awareness and advocacy campaign designed to articulate what the community is doing to reach its net-zero CO2 goals by 2050.
The campaign, called “Climbing. Fast.” is designed to educate U.S. policymakers and opinion leaders about the industry’s efforts and progress toward that 2050 goal. “It shows motion in a way that is related to aviation and it underscores the urgency–climbing fast–to net-zero emissions,” said Ed Bolen, National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) CEO and president, during a call to its board, Leadership Council, industry executives and environmental committee members on Oct. 12.
Bolen pointed to several ways the industry is moving fast—including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) usage and “tremendous advances” in hybrid, electric and hydrogen propulsion. “We’re also working hard to fly at optimal rates at altitudes and speeds, improve air traffic control and manufacturing,” and provide a sustainable flight department accreditation program to reduce environmental impacts.
The business aviation industry has been an incubator for sustainability efforts over the decades without it necessarily being called such. Efficiency gains—from winglets to more efficient engines, early adopting of GPS and the use of composites—frequently started in business aviation.
“Climbing. Fast.”, which debuts Oct. 17, is supported by NBAA, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, National Air Transport Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Experimental Aircraft Association, Helicopters Association International, International Aircraft Dealers Association, International Business Aviation Council, National Aircraft Finance Association, Women in Corporate Aviation and the Aircraft Electronics Association.
This broad industry effort should provide the associations and member companies ways to articulate the social benefits of business aviation, as well as “how our societal benefits are consistent with our commitment to net-zero emissions and the progress we’ve made to date, where we are and where we hope to go,” said Bolen.
“When we come together and coalesce around big ideas, and strong messaging, we've proven we can do great things,” he added, noting the achievements of the industry’s “No Plane No Gain” campaign.
The “Climbing. Fast.” builds off the “No Plane No Gain” campaign launched about 30 years ago to demonstrate the economic, productivity and humanitarian support benefits of business aircraft. Bolen said the new sustainability campaign “reflects the DNA” of No Plane No Gain “but provides a fresh start.”
The association plans to launch a microsite dedicated to this new sustainability initiative that will be a clearinghouse for relevant information. Bolen hopes this campaign provides facts to the associations, individual companies and people in the business aviation community so they “can help us not only move toward that (2050) goal, but to be able to talk about where we are, where we’re going, where we’ve been so that we’re all fluent” when it comes to sustainability, said Bolen.
The associations created “Climbing. Fast.” after working with a polling company that discovered in May that many people involved in U.S. policy and regulation didn’t have a positive connection between business aviation and sustainability. “What we found over the course of our polling is that when they were presented with facts about what business aviation is doing on sustainability, that more of them began to change their opinion,” said Bolen.
Will this new campaign change environmental protestors’ minds? Perhaps not, but Bolen thinks it will educate people who are open to changing their minds.
In 2021, the business aviation industry pledged to reach the 2050 emissions target and increase its fuel efficiency 2% each year between 2020-30.
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