IATA airlines chief warns aviation industry falling behind on net zero

Global airlines have issued their bluntest warning yet that efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 are sliding off course, as the head of their main trade body accused oil firms and the rest of the aviation sector of dragging their feet. Airlines agreed in 2021 to target net-zero emissions in 2050 based mainly on a gradual switch to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). But cracks have appeared as airlines clash with airports, manufacturers, air traffic control agencies and energy companies. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, told Reuters in an interview that airline bosses are increasingly alarmed at the unbalanced burden of the target.<br/>"We don't see others playing their part. In fact, they're behind where they should be and moving in the wrong direction," he said. "They're all committed, so long as we pay the bill. And that's just unacceptable." The outspoken former British Airways boss doubled down on recent comments, reported by Aviation Week, in which he predicted increasing pressure to reassess the target. That marks a shift in tone from an IATA gathering just 10 months ago when Walsh described the target as "existential not optional" and hailed a "fundamental consensus" in aviation. "We're going to have to reevaluate the commitment to net zero in 2050, because we're just not getting the support that the airlines require," he said. "What I'm seeing now is more and more concern being expressed by airline CEOs that more is expected of the industry, which is going to cost even more than the eye-watering estimates that we've had." The next test could be IATA's annual meeting in New Delhi in June. "It's not our intention to formally revisit (the target)," he said. "But it would not surprise me if we get calls from member airlines to look again at that commitment, because (it) was made on the basis that everybody would play their part."<br/>