Hawaiian Airlines has announced its latest sustainability initiative with a carbon offsetting scheme focused on preventing deforestation. The carrier will match all passenger contributions made in April to recognize Earth Day later this month.
Hawaiian launches passenger offsetting initiative
Hawaiian Airlines will give passengers the option to measure and offset their carbon emissions by funding projects that protect the world's forests.
Effective from April 6th, passengers flying within the Hawaiian Islands and between Hawaii and the continental United States, as well as Japan, South Korea, Australia, Auckland, Tahiti or American Samoa, can use the airline's carbon calculator to determine their carbon emissions.
Alanna James, managing director of sustainability initiatives at Hawaiian Airlines, said,
"Following our pledge last year to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, we wanted to also give our guests – both visitors to Hawaii as well as our island residents – the opportunity to reduce the impact of their individual emissions when traveling with us."
Hawaiian has pledged to match all passenger contributions for April and has also committed to offsetting all future employee business travel on Hawaiian's flights.
Protecting forests and local communities
The Hawaiian carrier will work with Conservation International, a US non-profit environmental organization with around 1,000 employees. The organization has offices in 30 countries and holds active projects in over 100 countries.
Offsetting contributions made by passengers will go directly towards projects led and supported by Conservation International that protect forests and support local communities.
Donations will "generate high-quality, independently verified carbon credits, validated by the strict requirements of Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCB)."
Alanna James added,
"Conservation International offers a simple and meaningful way for our guests to support climate action, and we are delighted to welcome them onboard as partners in minimizing our environmental impact."
Other Hawaiian sustainability efforts
Like others in the Airlines for America group, Hawaiian Airlines has a net-zero carbon pledge by 2050. The carrier has introduced several initiatives to help it meet its targets and is considered one of the leading US airlines in sustainability.
The carrier has a young and efficient fleet, particularly the narrowbody fleet of Airbus A321neos. Simple Flying took a closer look at the Hawaiian Airlines fleet in 2021.
Hawaiian has also reduced the use of jet fuel to power its aircraft to the gate by hooking up to more-efficient external electricity, thus reducing demand on its planes' onboard auxiliary power unit.
In the airline's most recent 'Kuleana' report, which translates to 'responsibility,' it noted "thanks to a Fuel Efficiency Campaign we officially launched in 2015, Hawaiian Airlines has been lowering jet fuel burn by an average of approximately 8.5 million gallons annually, equal to removing more than 16,000 cars off the roads each year through 2019."
Will you be participating in Hawaiian Airlines' carbon offsetting scheme? Let us know in the comments.