With encouragement from an analyst, we developed two carbon trackers. This two-pager is for public use and a more detailed and complex version (18 pages) for subscribers.
Page 1 – three simple tables listing the pounds of carbon per seat hour by aircraft types split into three categories. The sparklines to the right show a trend for each aircraft and the red dot indicates the high for each. Where the red dot appears over time is interesting, i.e. when you take seats out of the 777-300ER for the pandemic the aircraft’s carbon footprint is negatively impacted. Put seats back and things get better again.
Page 2 – Looking at aircraft over time you get a sense of how green models are. The “greener” the cell, the better. No surprise that regional jets are the least green.Â
Summary: The latest aircraft generation are greenest; with MAX and NEO leading. Boeing is the leader in single-aisles with the MAX9 and in twin aisles with the 787-10. Interesting to see that Airbus A330-900 has a better score than the A350-900 – Rolls-Royce really did improve that engine. The A220-100 score is lower than we expect and is likely a function of how Delta is using the aircraft (like a regional jet). The A220-300 does much better because it is flown more optimally.
The data reported is through September 2021 and we eagerly await the year-end update which was supposed to occur on Good Friday. We’ll update this as soon as DoT catches up.
Co-Founder AirInsight. My previous life includes stints at Shell South Africa, CIC Research, and PA Consulting. Got bitten by the aviation bug and ended up an Avgeek. Then the data bug got me, making me a curious Avgeek seeking data-driven logic. Also, I appreciate conversations with smart people from whom I learn so much. Summary: I am very fortunate to work with and converse with great people.
