"US airlines warned of emissions backlash"

Monday, May 14, 2007

US airlines warned of emissions backlash
By Doug Cameron in Houston
United Kingdom - The Financial Times


America's top aviation official has warned the industry to expect a
consumer-led backlash over its environmental impact, mirroring the
heightening concerns about emissions in Europe.

Marion Blakey, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, called for
carriers to deal with growing environmental concerns.

"The fact of the matter in Europe is more and more often environmentalists
are calling aviation a 'rogue industry', lumped together alongside Big
Tobacco," said Ms Blakey at a conference in Phoenix.

She noted that the change in consumer sentiment had happened almost
overnight, despite continued growth in air travel driven by economic
expansion and the rise of low-cost carriers. 

"It's presumptious to assume it won't happen here [so fast]," said Ms
Blakey, citing a recent survey in which just 5 per cent of US airline
executives viewed the environment as a key challenge, compared with 34 per
cent of their European counterparts. "I think it's fair to say that along
with congested airspace, aircraft emissions may be the most serious barrier
to aviation growth, at least in the long term."

The US remains the world's largest aviation market, with passenger traffic
back above 9/11 levels and further demand emerging from business jets and a
new breed of small "personal jets" which advocates believe could add
thousands of aircraft to the fleet.

While the industry insists efforts are being made to limit its environmental
impact - with cleaner and more fuel-efficient aircraft - executives admit
there is a challenge to present its case. "We have to get out in front and
educate the consumer," Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive of US
Airways, told the FT.

The European Union's plans to extend carbon emissions trading to the airline
sector at the end of the decade have caused alarm in the US and elsewhere,
with critics maintaining it is an inefficient way to address the industry's
problems.

The US argues that operational changes and the use of technology will have a
more immediate impact on reducing emissions than a trading scheme. The FAA
has pilot schemes allowing aircraft to fly closer together, reducing
congestion and the extra fuel and noise created by aircraft waiting to take
off and land, and there is a broad industry initiative to explore the use of
renewable fuels.

The issue is expected to come to a head at a meeting of the International
Civil Aviation Organisation in September, when the UN-backed body will seek
a consensus on efforts to address climate change.

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