How Alaska Airlines is Leading the Way in Eco-Friendly Practices

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Alaska Airlines is making air travel greener and more sustainable with innovative strategies to cut emissions, reduce waste, and embrace an eco-friendly future. Through their ongoing efforts and industry leadership, they’re setting the stage for meaningful change in aviation. Here’s how they’re leading the charge.

Fuel Efficiency and Cutting Emissions

For seven years, Alaska Airlines has been the most fuel-efficient airline in the U.S., thanks to a modern fleet featuring planes like the Boeing 737-900 and Airbus A321neo, which use up to 13% less fuel than competitors.

With split scimitar winglets reducing fuel burn by an extra 5% and smart routing tech like Required Navigation Performance (RNP) optimizing flight paths, Alaska Airlines is saving fuel, time, and money.

Learn more about Alaska’s Four F’s of sustainability:

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

Alaska Airlines is serious about clean energy, offering passengers the chance to purchase SAF credits when booking flights, offsetting up to 20% of their emissions. SAF can slash carbon emissions by up to 80%, making it a key part of sustainable air travel. Travelers also earn elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) when they purchase credits, making it a win for both the planet and loyal customers.

Discover how Alaska Airlines is changing the narrative:

Tackling Waste

Alaska Airlines leads in waste management with inflight recycling for materials like bottles, cups, and coffee grounds. Partnering with Ridwell, they’ve diverted pounds of plastic from landfills by recycling hard-to-process items like snack wrappers. Eliminating single-use plastic items, including cups and straws, has cut out over 55 million plastic items annually.

Here’s how waste management works with Alaska Airlines:

@alaskaair

As we fly toward a more sustainable future, we’re proud to be the FIRST U.S. AIRLINE to eliminate plastic cups! By partnering with @boxedwater & serving drinks in responsibly-sourced paper cups, we’re saving 2.2M+ lbs of #plastic from landfills a year! #sustainability #recycling #care #green

♬ original sound – Taylor Dean

With a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, Alaska Airlines is making strides through fuel efficiency, SAF adoption, and waste reduction. Their commitment to greener skies shows the aviation industry can lead in protecting the planet while maintaining exceptional service. Sustainable air travel isn’t just possible—it’s happening now.

Jodie Price

Jodie Price

Hi, my name is Jodie Price and I have been a flight attendant for the past four years. Before that, I was a teacher at a local school. During my summer vacations from teaching, I loved to jet off on an exciting adventure whenever I could.But the flights stressed me and my friends out so much that we almost stopped vacationing altogether. Would another form of transportation be easier?