In this episode, we talk to Diana Birkett Rakow, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs & Sustainability at Alaska Airlines, who shares the airline’s ambitious goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2040.

To reach the 2040 goal, Alaska Airlines has developed a comprehensive five-part path. The plan includes focusing on operational efficiency, fleet modernisation, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), new propulsion technologies, and the use of carbon credits as a last resort.

Rakow discusses the importance of employee and customer engagement in advancing the airline’s sustainability goals. She shares the airline’s unique bonus program that ties 10% of every employee’s annual bonus to achieving carbon intensity targets. Rakow also discusses the airline’s efforts to engage customers in sustainability initiatives by enabling the purchase of nature-based offsets and SAF credits, and offering loyalty rewards.

Rakow emphasises the significance of collaborations with companies like Microsoft and Twelve in developing and utilising SAF. She also delves into the airline’s investments in future technologies, such as their partnership with ZeroAvia to develop hydrogen-electric powertrains for regional aircraft, and the role of the airline’s venture investment arm, Alaska Star Ventures, in identifying and supporting innovations that accelerate the path to net zero emissions.

Please note: Alaska Airlines established its headquarters in Seattle in the early 1960s. The decade was misstated in the episode. 

If you LOVED this episode you’ll also love the conversation we had with Delta Air Lines’ Chief Sustainability Officer Amelia DeLuca, who shares the airline’s collaborative vision for sustainability. Check it out here.

Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air’. Click here to learn more.

Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.

Links & More:

ESG Environmental Social Governance - Alaska Airlines

Flying with purpose: Alaska sets new climate goals, including net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 - Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines, Twelve & Microsoft collaborate to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel produced from captured CO2 - ESG Today

Alaska Airlines, ZeroAvia to develop world’s largest zero-emission aircraft - Flight Global

Delta’s sustainability push is powered by a surprising customer insight