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There has been a lot of buzz about this week's big Aviation & Environment Summit underway in Geneva. The attendee list is a who's who from every corner of commercial aviation: Airbus CEO Tom Enders, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Scott Carson, as well as heavies from the FAA, the International Air Transport Association, GE Aviation, Embraer, British Airways, the Airline Pilots Association, and others.
Between speeches, keynote addresses, workshops, and luncheons, conference attendees signed off on several high-profile agreements related to the environment. On Tuesday, a big group that includes airlines, airports, and air traffic controllers produced a declaration committing the industry to the eventual goal of carbon-free travel. I say eventual because the declaration doesn't actually set any time targets for achieving this lofty milestone.
What the declaration does do is commit the industry to spending some cash on green technology research and development (though again, there isn't a number attached), improving airspace design to increase efficiency, and setting up an emissions trading program to be run by the International Civil Aviation Organization. This last point is an obvious snub to the European Union's forthcoming carbon trading scheme, which seems to be hated by almost everyone even remotely involved with commercial aviation.
Another interesting announcement came from long time arch rivals Boeing and Airbus. The two companies signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of a new, modernized air traffic management system, which they see as key to improving the industry's environmental performance. And they say that continued cutthroat competition between the two companies will foster technological and environmental innovation.
Environmentalists seemed only slightly heartened by the happenings in Geneva, in large part because they come without any timelines or milestones. Talking about how to clean up aviation is good. Setting some specific benchmarks would be better.
