Airline Incentive: Cost

Airlines are in the midst of a big push to reduce their use of fossil fuels, said Martha Honey, the

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executive director of the Center for Responsible Travel, or Crest, a Washington-based nonprofit that promotes sustainable travel. “These fuels are harmful to the environment and expensive, and the more airlines use, the more it costs them,” she said.According to the Air Transport Action Group, a nonprofit that represents the air industry, fuel accounted for one-third of operating costs in 2015.Last October, 191 countries reached a landmark agreement at the International Civil Aviation Organization meeting in Montreal to help aviation achieve carbon neutral growth starting in 2021.Qantas, Lufthansa, American Airlines and JetBlue are among the carriers making sizable investments in aircraft that burn less fuel and are therefore most cost-efficient. Lufthansa has ordered 116 new Airbus planes that are 15 percent more fuel efficient than comparable models. Five of the planes are already in the sky, according to Christina Semmel, a Lufthansa spokeswoman.JetBlue made news last year with its purchase of 330,000 million gallons of biofuel — fuel that is made from organic matter including agricultural products and significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It will start using it in 2019. “Our initial commitment is to use the fuel in New York City-area airports, and we plan to use it in all of our aircraft,” Sophia Mendelsohn, JetBlue’s head of sustainability, said.