Delta AirElite launches carbon offset program

14 July 2009

Delta AirElite Business Jets announced a comprehensive effort to offset the annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of its headquarters offices in Cincinnati and a complementary initiative to help address the CO2 emissions associated with customer travel.

The program was developed with The Conservation Fund, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting land and water resources.

“There is a vigorous commitment among our customers and our employees to improve our environmental stewardship in all parts of our lives, and we are pleased to offer a program that allows us all to make a difference by getting involved personally in this important way,” said Michael B. Green, president and CEO of Delta AirElite. “Through our affiliation with The Conservation Fund, we are providing opportunities for positive environmental change.”

Customers of Delta AirElite can make a donation to The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero program to offset the CO2 emissions resulting from their AirElite flights. In return, the Fund will plant native trees in protected parks and wildlife refuges in order to offset the appropriate amount of CO2 emissions. Customers might consider planting a tree for every hour of flight, resulting in cleaner air, enhanced wildlife habitat and new recreation areas.

“Delta AirElite and its customers are providing critical, private capital that will help address two of the most extraordinary environmental challenges of our time, climate change and habitat loss,” said The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero director, Jena Meredith.

Delta AirElite has committed to work with the Fund to measure and then offset the annual CO2 footprint of its Cincinnati-based corporate headquarters and employees will have the opportunity to contribute to the cause as well. Delta AirElite’s parent company, Delta Air Lines, was the first U.S. commercial airline to offer its customers the opportunity to offset their flight-based emissions via a similar program launched with The Conservation Fund in 2007.