In 2019 alone, I have flown over 180,000 miles. The high mileage is caused by residing in New Zealand (a tiny island far away from civilization), my love of flying, and my personal desire to be face-to-face as much as possible with my friends, family, colleagues, and customers.
I have thought a lot about the debate around air travel and sustainably, and personally, I am against the notion that people should fly less to save the planet — our world is precious, and if anything, I believe that the more people see the world, the more we all come to appreciate how precious it is. However, when we do fly, I believe we should be as sustainable as possible, or as my friends joke, as least unsustainable as possible!
The things I suggest here are small, especially in the context of aviation where everything is massive and at scale — and that’s ok. I don’t see it any different to reducing waste on the ground, every small bit counts, and I truly believe that even improving the world a little bit one day at a time, is only a good thing.
Advocate for sustainability
Ultimately airlines decide how sustainable they want to be — and there’s a very large variation between airlines on this topic. Don’t underestimate your voice either as a one off traveler or a frequent flyer. Make sure you complete flight feedback surveys and inform them on how they can be more sustainable with their flights. The more we voice our thoughts, the more it justifies to airlines that they are part of the difference.
We also have options — check out the sustainability policies of airlines you want to fly with, and create a list of your preferred carriers. I feel lucky that the two main airlines in my region — Air New Zealand and Qantas, are making a conscious effort to reduce their footprint.
Fly on Newer Aircraft Types
The easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint is to fly on aircraft that are more fuel efficient and thus emit less emissions. Modern aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A350, A320Neo and the now infamous 737 Max are all great aircraft. When booking your flight, you can usually see the “Aircraft Type”, and though most search engines don’t let you filter by type, you can usually form a mental picture of different airlines, the aircraft they fly, and the routes they’re flown on after few searches.
Sometimes the efficient aircraft are not flown directly on the route pair you want. I make a quarterly trip to Seattle, and the typical option is to fly AKL-LAX on a 777–300, then transfer onto a normal 737. After a bit of searching, I’ve found I can book AKL-YVR on a Dreamliner, then jump onto a Delta Embraer for the 50 minute hop across.
Say No to Plastic Cups
For those of us unfortunate enough to fly economy, the plastic cups are synonymous with the drinks cart and aren’t so good for the environment. You can solve this problem in multiple ways:
Ask for a can of drink. Spare them the cup. You get a bigger serving size and get to save the planet! Better yet, don’t drink liquid sugar and…
Bring a water bottle. Water is good for you at altitude and you should drink plenty of it, just bring a water bottle and drink away the dry air!
Use a Keep Cup. When you need that morning coffee after the trans-pacific flight, using a keep cup is a great way to drink sustainably, and retain the heat for longer, so you can keep drinking till touchdown.
BYO Amenities
Did you really want to use those airline provided earbuds anyway? I always bring my own amenities on flights, such as:
Headphones. I use a pair of noise cancelling headphones with an adapter that connects into the aircraft entertainment system — it offers much better noise cancelling and isolation, and doesn’t require unwrapping plastic before every use.
Comfy Jacket. On long-haul flights, I actually find it more comfortable to sleep in a comfortable hoodie than use the plastic wrapped, airline provided blankets.
Re-usable earplugs. This changed my quality of life completely on flights — Invest in a good pair of washable, custom made re-usable earplugs, your ears will thank-you for it, you’ll sleep much better onboard, and you don’t need to use disposable foam earplugs every time you want to nap on a noisy aircraft.
Fly Lighter
I don’t expect my Samsonite suitcase to make a material difference to an aircraft’s fuel burn, and would be slightly concerned if it did, but carrying less weight does start to make a difference to both your wallet and the environment when you start flying a lot. Often you can complete a lot of your travels with less than 10kg of luggage (as I explain here).
Use the Technology
Almost all airlines have mobile boarding passes and some even have re-usable NFC / wireless bag tags (like Qantas Q-Tag). Leveraging these innovations reduces paper boarding passes, plastic bag tags, and makes your journey a lot easier too.
Take the Train
All journeys begin and end on the ground, given the choice of multiple airports in a city, I always try flying with airports that have good Public Transport options. This has benefits other than environmental too — there’s often better signage, safety mechanisms, and you get to immerse yourself into an exciting new culture on day one. Where cities don’t have trains, they will usually have specialized buses to take you to the city center.
I have thought a lot about the debate around air travel and sustainably, and personally, I am against the notion that people should fly less to save the planet — our world is precious, and if anything, I believe that the more people see the world, the more we all come to appreciate how precious it is. However, when we do fly, I believe we should be as sustainable as possible, or as my friends joke, as least unsustainable as possible!
The things I suggest here are small, especially in the context of aviation where everything is massive and at scale — and that’s ok. I don’t see it any different to reducing waste on the ground, every small bit counts, and I truly believe that even improving the world a little bit one day at a time, is only a good thing.
Advocate for sustainability
Ultimately airlines decide how sustainable they want to be — and there’s a very large variation between airlines on this topic. Don’t underestimate your voice either as a one off traveler or a frequent flyer. Make sure you complete flight feedback surveys and inform them on how they can be more sustainable with their flights. The more we voice our thoughts, the more it justifies to airlines that they are part of the difference.
We also have options — check out the sustainability policies of airlines you want to fly with, and create a list of your preferred carriers. I feel lucky that the two main airlines in my region — Air New Zealand and Qantas, are making a conscious effort to reduce their footprint.
Fly on Newer Aircraft Types
The easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint is to fly on aircraft that are more fuel efficient and thus emit less emissions. Modern aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A350, A320Neo and the now infamous 737 Max are all great aircraft. When booking your flight, you can usually see the “Aircraft Type”, and though most search engines don’t let you filter by type, you can usually form a mental picture of different airlines, the aircraft they fly, and the routes they’re flown on after few searches.
Sometimes the efficient aircraft are not flown directly on the route pair you want. I make a quarterly trip to Seattle, and the typical option is to fly AKL-LAX on a 777–300, then transfer onto a normal 737. After a bit of searching, I’ve found I can book AKL-YVR on a Dreamliner, then jump onto a Delta Embraer for the 50 minute hop across.
Say No to Plastic Cups
For those of us unfortunate enough to fly economy, the plastic cups are synonymous with the drinks cart and aren’t so good for the environment. You can solve this problem in multiple ways:
Ask for a can of drink. Spare them the cup. You get a bigger serving size and get to save the planet! Better yet, don’t drink liquid sugar and…
Bring a water bottle. Water is good for you at altitude and you should drink plenty of it, just bring a water bottle and drink away the dry air!
Use a Keep Cup. When you need that morning coffee after the trans-pacific flight, using a keep cup is a great way to drink sustainably, and retain the heat for longer, so you can keep drinking till touchdown.
BYO Amenities
Did you really want to use those airline provided earbuds anyway? I always bring my own amenities on flights, such as:
Headphones. I use a pair of noise cancelling headphones with an adapter that connects into the aircraft entertainment system — it offers much better noise cancelling and isolation, and doesn’t require unwrapping plastic before every use.
Comfy Jacket. On long-haul flights, I actually find it more comfortable to sleep in a comfortable hoodie than use the plastic wrapped, airline provided blankets.
Re-usable earplugs. This changed my quality of life completely on flights — Invest in a good pair of washable, custom made re-usable earplugs, your ears will thank-you for it, you’ll sleep much better onboard, and you don’t need to use disposable foam earplugs every time you want to nap on a noisy aircraft.
Fly Lighter
I don’t expect my Samsonite suitcase to make a material difference to an aircraft’s fuel burn, and would be slightly concerned if it did, but carrying less weight does start to make a difference to both your wallet and the environment when you start flying a lot. Often you can complete a lot of your travels with less than 10kg of luggage (as I explain here).
Use the Technology
Almost all airlines have mobile boarding passes and some even have re-usable NFC / wireless bag tags (like Qantas Q-Tag). Leveraging these innovations reduces paper boarding passes, plastic bag tags, and makes your journey a lot easier too.
Take the Train
All journeys begin and end on the ground, given the choice of multiple airports in a city, I always try flying with airports that have good Public Transport options. This has benefits other than environmental too — there’s often better signage, safety mechanisms, and you get to immerse yourself into an exciting new culture on day one. Where cities don’t have trains, they will usually have specialized buses to take you to the city center.