Delta and BCD sign first global travel management sustainable fuel agreement

Delta Air Lines and BCD Travel USA LLC have signed the first-ever sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) agreement for a travel management company. The premier agreement helps address emissions from BCD employee travel and, as one of the largest travel management agencies in the world, bolsters the future of sustainability in the travel industry.

“With this partnership, we are seeing the entirety of the travel industry invested in creating a sustainable future for aviation,” said Amelia DeLuca, Delta’s Managing Director of Sustainability. “Travel management companies, especially those as globally focused as BCD Travel, are noting the importance of traveling sustainably. No one person or company or country alone can make the impact necessary to put our planet on a sustainable track for the future. This partnership is one way Delta is engaging major stakeholders driving toward their own goals of carbon neutral air travel, so we can make a real and lasting sustainable impact.”

This agreement represents a conceptual alignment within the travel industry to offset emissions from corporate traveler flights. This brings much-needed investment to the SAF market by building industry demand and SAF supply with the goal of decreasing the aviation industry’s reliance on conventional jet fuel.   

“As one of the largest travel management agencies in the world, we are responsible for helping pave the way for the next generation of travel that helps improve the communities in which we live and work,” said Kathy Jackson, BCD’s Vice President and Executive Chair of Sustainability. “It’s part of our mission as a company to help people and companies travel smart and achieve more. And as we grow, we have an obligation to ourselves, our clients and our communities to do so sustainably.”

SAF is a critically important lever to reduce the life-cycle carbon emissions from aviation fuel. In its pure form, it can reduce life cycle carbon emissions up to 80 percent compared to petroleum-based jet fuel and is a key component in Delta’s commitment to becoming carbon neutral. The collaboration with BCD Travel continues to underscore the significant positive environmental impact that can be achieved through collaboration.

About Delta Air Lines

From being the first and only U.S. airline to voluntarily cap greenhouse gas emissions at 2012 levels to last year’s commitment to be the first carbon-neutral airline globally, Delta has a longstanding commitment to sustainable air travel. Delta was the No. 1 airline named among America’s Most Sustainable Companies by Barron’s in 2020, the only U.S. airline included in the 2021 S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook and has received the Vision for America Award by Keep America Beautiful and Captain Planet Foundation’s Superhero Corporate Award. Delta has also earned a spot on the FTSE4Good Index for six consecutive years and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for ten consecutive years. For more information, visit Delta.com/sustainability.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements made in this release that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections, goals, aspirations, commitments or strategies for the future, should be considered “forward-looking statements” under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are not guarantees or promised outcomes and should not be construed as such. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections, goals, aspirations, commitments and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our views only as of the date of this release, and which we undertake no obligation to update except to the extent required by law.