While travelers continue to highly value cheap traveloptions, such as cheapairplane tickets, discounttravel deals, and cheap vacation packages, theyalso yearn for more legroom, more direct flights, and less time stuck in theair in while planes fly in holding patterns.
Government regulators are pushing targets that will forcecommercial airlines to dramatically reduce their carbon dioxide emissions byfocusing on aircraft fuel efficiency. The good news is that this is expected toresult in a growing number of new, more fuel efficient airplanes that will inturn likely lead to an upgrade in passenger comforts such as more legroom andstate of the art inflight entertainment.
Today U.S. airlines generate between 2 to 3 percent of thecountrys greenhouse gas emissions. Airline emissions are one of the fastest growing carbon pollutionsources, and will triple its gas emissions by 2050 if the current trendcontinues.
Boeing estimates that almost 37,000 new planes will join theworlds fleet over the next 20 years. While 42 percent of these planes will replace ones retired fromcommercial service, primarily in the U.S., the rest will expand fleets inemerging markets within Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Voluntary targets for improving fuel efficiency of the globalfleet has been set by a coalition of airlines and industry partners call for a1.5 percent annual reduction through 2020. The coalitions goal is to cut emissions by 50 percent from the 2005level by 2050.
Unfortunately U.S. fuel efficiency gains were stalled in 2013because few new fuel efficient planes entered the fleet from the mid-1980s tothe early 2000s. Instead airlinesfocused on doing everything possible to pack every plane to capacity.
New emissions standards under review by the InternationalCivil Aviation Organization are focused on the underlying efficiency ofplanes. Such changes in the long runcould result in cheaper fares if the fuel savings the airlines achieve fromflying more fuel efficient planes are passed on to passengers.
Some watchdog organizations are concerned that the currentfalling fuel prices have reduced the incentive for airlines to focus on fuelefficiency unless forced to do so by legally binding regulation, which theairline industry is fighting.
The pro regulation argument is that it is the only way toprovide a sustained and predictable signal for manufacturers to continue toimprove their planes independent of the day to day changes in fuel prices.
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