Air Transport Association to Participate in Fourth Annual Energy Day

U.S. Airlines Remain Committed to Environmental and Economic Sustainability

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, along with members of the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), are uniting today for Energy Day 2010.  

This year's Energy Day, the fourth of its kind, will be a sustainability forum in which CEA affiliates, industry stakeholders and leading experts discuss how their respective sectors have advanced initiatives aimed at boosting energy efficiency, conservation and sustainability.

ATA participation in Energy Day provides another opportunity to highlight the airline industry's latest sustainability efforts. U.S. airlines remain committed to an ambitious list of goals to address climate change, including:

• Improving fuel efficiency by an annual average of 1.5 percent per year through 2020
• Achieving carbon-neutral growth from 2020 (subject to industry and government support for critical aviation infrastructure and technology) 
• Reducing CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2050, relative to 2005 levels

"ATA applauds CEA for hosting Energy Day 2010, which continues to advance energy-efficiency, sustainability and conservation goals – goals that are shared by the airlines," said ATA President and CEO James C. May.

ATA member airlines have improved their fuel efficiency by 110 percent since the late 1970s – saving more than 2.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking approximately 19 million cars off the road each of those years. Additionally, ATA continues its role as a founding and leading member of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), a consortium of airlines, manufacturers, airports, energy producers, researchers and government agencies dedicated to the development and deployment of environmentally preferred, affordable alternative fuels.

In conjunction with Energy Day 2010, CEA will be releasing its 2010 sustainability report, "Private Sector Leadership in Energy Efficiency, Conservation and Sustainability." This report outlines the need for sustainability to be incorporated into a rational energy policy, and advocates increased domestic energy production and greater use of renewable and alternative energy. The CEA report is available online at "Sustainability Report 2010: Private Sector Leadership in Energy Efficiency, Conservation and Sustainability"

CEA is a coalition of agriculture, manufacturing, trucking, airline (including ATA), small business, energy producers and municipal governments focusing on sustainability and promoting an "all of the above" approach in developing American energy security.

ATA airlines and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For additional information about the industry, visit www.airlines.org.

SOURCE Air Transport Association