Alaska Airlines has announced the launch of its new investment arm, which will fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The airline is one of the first industries to jump on board with this idea and is using blockchain technology in order to speed up sustainability efforts by investors, while also supporting local economies across America’s frontier regions.
Alaska Airlines has recently launched an investment arm to help accelerate its net-zero progress. Alaska Airlines is one of the first airlines in the world to achieve this milestone and is working hard on becoming a zero-carbon company by 2050.
WHY IT RATES: The carrier is working to ensure long-term viability.—Donald Wood, Senior Writer for Breaking News.
Alaska Airlines has formed a new limited liability company, Alaska Star Ventures, to develop emerging technologies that will help the airline achieve net zero carbon emissions.
“We must operate every day in a manner that cares for both people and the environment if we are to fulfill our mission and build an airline that people love,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said. “To do so, we’re looking for solutions that will help us achieve our goal of making the aviation sector more sustainable.”
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Alaska Star Ventures teamed with UP.Partners, an early-stage investor in sustainable, multi-dimensional mobility solutions that are changing the moving world, for its first investment.
“The future of aviation is a collaborative endeavor involving founders, financiers, builders, and important stakeholders – like Alaska Airlines,” Cyrus Sigari, co-founder and managing partner of UP.Partners, stated. “Selective and values-driven investments that advance the sector toward sustainable aviation are critical, given that transportation is the underlying fabric of society. Alaska Star Ventures is a mission-aligned organization that is starting today, and we’re pleased to be a part of it.”
“We’re proud of our lofty goals and pioneering history, but we also recognize that we can’t completely decarbonize and reach net zero carbon emissions on our own,” said Alaska Airlines vice president of public relations and sustainability Diana Birkett Rakow. “That’s why we’re concentrating our efforts on identifying, working with, and supporting technologies that will enable us to take real and significant steps toward net zero today and in the future. We’re excited to work with UP.Partners on our first project, and we’re lucky to have aviation veteran Pasha Saleh managing corporate development in order to start and expand this initiative effectively.”
Alaska stated in April that it will use a five-part decarbonization plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Alaska’s implementation of Flyways, artificial intelligence and machine learning software that aids dispatchers in route planning, sparked a search for more technologies to help us speed our journey to net zero and empower Alaska workers throughout our system.
The company’s commitments to reduce its carbon, waste, and water footprint build on a history of environmental progress, including industry-leading onboard recycling, eliminating plastic straws and stir sticks, enabling touchless and paperless guest experiences through technology, advancing the use of sustainable aviation fuels, and partnering with the Boeing ecoDemonstrator program to evaluate and test sustainability-focused technology.
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