Advocacy & Policy

Aviation and the Environment Background

A little more than a century ago, an aircraft took off from a wind-swept sand dune at Kitty Hawk on a controlled, heavier-than-air flight and changed the world forever. Powering that flight was a tiny aluminum-encased custom-made, gasoline-fueled engine that produced 12 horsepower – about the same as a riding lawn mower.

Today aircraft are powered by huge turbofan engines that produce as much as 127,000 pounds of thrust – many thousands of times more powerful that the Wright’s engine. This remarkable leap in technology has made aviation one of the most important and relied-upon industries in the world. But the growth of the industry has also meant impacts on the environment.

Over the last few decades, perhaps no industry has done more to improve its environmental performance. Today’s aircraft and engines are much more efficient than those flying just 20 or 30 years ago, dramatically decreasing fuel burned and harmful emissions. New aircraft models now under development promise to make even bigger gains in efficiency, cutting the industry’s carbon output even further.

But we are not resting on our laurels. The international aviation industry is making an extraordinary investment in taking environmental performance to the next level with advances like alternative fuels and even more efficient engines and airframes. Coupled with fuel-saving gains in operations and air transportation system transformation, these improvements will make aviation even greener than it is today.

The Wright brothers made their first flight surrounded by the unspoiled nature of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Our industry continues to work toward a similar balance of technology and our environment for the future.

This web site is aimed at provide details of the many steps the U.S. commercial aviation industry is taking to make our already good environmental track record even better. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or to receive further information.