Chief technical officers of seven major aviation manufacturers, including Airbus and Boeing, made a call this week for governments, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to commit to advancing aviation sustainability goals through cooperation and continued investment.
The call to action comes as the group reaffirmed a joint commitment to decarbonizing aviation and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
In a joint statement, the CTOs from Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Safran, Boeing, GE Aviation and Rolls-Royce called for:
- A sustained policymaking approach that supports novel technology development and stimulates the ramp-up of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and green hydrogen production capacity
- An internationally consistent approach to regulation and certification standards
- Collaboration between research institutions and aerospace suppliers in the development of the new technologies
- Investment in SAF production capacity by fuel producers
- Investment by airport operators in the infrastructure required to support novel aviation technologies
The CTOs pledged that the companies would work to:
- Advance state-of-the-art aircraft and engine design
- Support increased availability and use of SAF
- Investigate hydrogen fuel use
- Continue the development of technologies aimed at achieving net-zero carbon aviation
Combined, the seven companies have spent more than $75 billion in research and design in the past five years, much of which was targeted on improving the fuel efficiency of aircraft and their engines, they said.
“For aviation to continue to deliver its benefits to society, we need to embrace the sustainability challenge and solve it with technology, transparency and cooperation,” the CTOs said.
