Sustainability
We're not green YET, but we're working on it
We won't sugarcoat anything by saying we're the greenest airline out there. We know the hard truth of the airline industry, but we're working hard to be better and different. Aircraft fuel burn is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and an airline uses a lot of fuel. Frontier accounted for about 2% of the commercial jet fuel consumption in the United States in 2010. The entire airline industry currently accounts for 12% of the national greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Air travel alone contributed 107 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2010. As a comparison, the average passenger vehicle emits 5.5 metric tons of CO2 per year.
Now for the good news: although the demand for air travel has been constantly rising - projected to reach 3.3 billion passenger trips by 2014 - the domestic airline industry reduced its fuel consumption by 21% since 2000. These reductions have been brought about by more efficient practices on the ground, better flight planning, reductions in aircraft weight, and innovation in aircraft and engine design. These innovations are a constant focus since the biggest single expense for any airline is fuel cost, so it's beneficial for every airline to reduce fuel consumption wherever possible. And although we understand our own bottom line, Frontier is always trying to reduce its footprint beyond what appears on our balance sheet.
The easiest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are found in fuel consumption. The airline industry as a whole is doing many things to become more efficient. Frontier is one of many using techniques like directional push-backs, single-engine taxi, reducing aircraft boarded weight, adding aerodynamic tweaks to aircraft, utilizing highly-efficient flight management systems and switching from engine power to ground power as quickly as possible.
Frontier is already setting itself apart from other airlines in several ways. Our fleet is newer and more fuel-efficient than the average domestic fleet by 25%. Our cross-functional fuel conservation committee expects to reduce our projected fuel consumption - and therefore our emissions - by over 2% for 2011, just by becoming more efficient. Of every 10 aluminum cans that are used on our aircraft, 8 are recycled in our hub facilities. Virtually 100% of the cardboard packaging received by our hub facilities is recycled.
Flight plan to a green FRONTIER
Frontier promises to be a whole different animal. To do that we want to be better and different in the ways we operate. As part of that commitment, Frontier has chosen to order 40 new Bombardier C-Series aircraft, making us the largest and most immediate customer for the next generation of fuel-efficient aircraft. The C-Series will emit 20% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than any aircraft currently in production.
We have also partnered with The Wilderness Society, knowing that we all share a common love of our favorite wild places: our national parks and forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands. We are proud to support The Wilderness Society and their efforts to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Did you know that our national parks and old growth forests are some of the best carbon storing piggy banks in the world? To learn more visit http://wilderness.org/content/lungs-earth-top-10-carbon-storing-national-forests-america.
Making 'green' our CULTURE
We are working to create a culture at Frontier that ensures internal commitment to our company and to the environment in which we operate; this is one of the ways we?re delivering on our promise to be a better and different airline. Our new Green Team will bring together employees from various functions across the company to generate ideas for the company to reduce its footprint.
New ideas include changes from our catering facilities, to our call centers in to increase our corporate recycling program, reduce energy consumption, and minimize waste. The Green Team will also be a key factor in ensuring that sustainable practice is a mindset for the everyday operations of everyone at Frontier.
What YOU can do to help
pack smart, pack light
Each additional pound of weight Frontier puts on our typical aircraft (Airbus A319) for a 1000-mile segment increases carbon dioxide emission from fuel burn by about one pound of CO2 per plane. Packing lighter will reduce your CO2 footprint from travel, help us with our goal to be a more efficient airline and will make our baggage handlers very happy!
consider offsetting your carbon
Greenhouse gas emissions are an unfortunate part of traveling in today's world but there are many projects that can replace CO2-generating activities. Projects range from advanced biofuel research programs to simple tree-planting or conservation initiatives. Many of these projects benefit from outside assistance for research and development, operations, or implementation. There are several websites that offer tools to calculate an appropriate donation based on miles traveled as they relate to CO2 generation; one suggestion is CarbonFund.org.
However, Frontier's recommendation is always to support a sustainable project that's meaningful to you. We encourage you to get involved in a local carbon reduction project or support a local forest as a means to compensate for travel. Frontier has partnered with The Wilderness Society because we hope to help conserve precious habitat in the United States, and because we want to support the largest carbon sinks in the country.