Environmental, Social and Governance Sustainability

Sustainability is a top priority in Delta's corporate strategy, and now you can meet the real faces, families and communities who benefit from these efforts.

Travel across the globe with Reuters and Delta to Guatemala: home of the Conservation Coast. In a mini-documentary that just aired, learn how the Coast is directly supported by Delta's carbon offsetting efforts, including recent offset emissions for over 300,000 customers on Earth Day.

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In celebration of Earth Day today, Delta is offsetting the emissions of all domestic leisure and business travel into and out of New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham and Atlanta for over 300,000 customers across the country.

Since 2013, Delta has voluntarily purchased over 12 million carbon offsets, which is equivalent to the emissions from 1.7 million cars or electricity use for one year in nearly 2 million homes. This is more than any other U.S. airline. Today alone, Delta will buy almost 50,000 carbon offsets. To put this in perspective, 50,000 offsets will equal the emissions from more than 10,000 cars driven for one year.

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From executives to frontline employees, Delta people across the system are committed to the communities they serve and the world they live in.

“Being a good corporate citizen is key to the Delta culture, which is why our sustainability efforts are more than just words,” said Gil West, Delta’s Chief Operating Officer. “Delta is committed to producing significant, measurable results as a part of its industry-leading sustainability strategy to maintain carbon-neutral growth, reduce waste, and engage customers and employees around environmental stewardship.”

These efforts and more are why Delta was honored the Vision For America Award by Keep America Beautiful in 2017, recognized with Captain Planet Foundation’s Superhero Corporate Award in 2018, named to the FTSE4Good Index for four consecutive years and included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for eight consecutive years.

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A portion of the oil refined by Monroe Energy will come from synthetic feedstock converted from waste plastic, under an agreement announced last week with Agilyx, an environmental technology and development company.

Under the agreement, Agilyx will supply about 2,500 barrels per day of the synthetic feedstock by 2020.

"The Agilyx technology is an innovative process, reducing the amount of plastic that is currently being landfilled," said Jeff Warmann, CEO – Monroe Energy. "I am proud that our company can play such a significant role in converting waste plastics into useful jet fuel for Delta."

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Delta Air Lines is continuing the removal of a variety of single-use plastic items, including stir sticks, wrappers, utensils and straws from its aircraft and Delta Sky Clubs. The ongoing effort comes on the heels of the global airline's leading move to remove plastic wrap from international Main Cabin cutlery in April, and is expected to eliminate more than 300,000 pounds in plastic waste annually – that's more than the weight of two Boeing 757 aircraft.

Other moves contributing to Delta's long-time sustainability efforts include the elimination of unnecessary plastic wrapping from Delta One amenity kits, and reducing Styrofoam in the cafeterias at Delta's Atlanta headquarters in favor of compostable and/or reusable alternatives. Delta's Minneapolis office campus ditched Styrofo am altogether in 2015.

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When disaster strikes, Delta's support helps the American Red Cross provide food, shelter and cleanup to those in need. As Hurricane Michael approaches the coastline of the Panhandle of Florida, and the Red Cross prepares to respond, Delta's support as an Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) participant at the $1 million level, allows the organization to be strategic in disaster response.

The American Red Cross is Delta's longest-standing nonprofit partner, which has allowed the company, its employees and customers to help people in need for more than 75 years. In addition to ADGP funding, employees participate in corporate blood drives throughout the year, making Delta the largest corporate sponsor of American Red Cross blood drives with 11,085 pints in Fiscal Year 2018 (Year End June 30).

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Delta’s partnership with Bee Downtown supports the airline’s commitment to be an environmentally sustainable, responsible business.

Winter is coming and beekeepers across the U.S. this September are spending National Honey Month preparing their hives by completing the last few harvests of honey for the year. Established in 1989 by the National Honey Board, the event marks the end of the harvesting season while promoting the sweet treat and its multitude of uses. Delta is also ‘winterizing’ its three beehives, which were installed this April in partnership with innovative and eco-friendly startup Bee Downtown. The organization partners with companies to host beehives at their offices.

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"If you have any items you wish to discard, please do so now as flight attendants begin to make one last round around the cabin," the P.A. announces, as the plane begins to make its descent. Recyclable goods like empty soda cans and plastic bottles are gathered from tray tables, handed off to a flight attendant, then, at Delta, are likely transformed into a home.

Last Friday in Atlanta, Delta employees worked alongside two Atlanta families to put the finishing touches on the 10th and 11th Habitat for Humanity homes funded by the airline's Inflight Recycling Program.

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Delta Air Lines will contribute $500,000 to the American Red Cross to aid in the relief efforts in the Carolinas and surrounding areas as a result of Hurricane Florence, which made landfall in North Carolina last week. The slow moving system dumped record amounts of rain leaving behind severe flooding and widespread destruction.   

Red Cross volunteer and mother and daughter"Delta stands in support of the people affected by Hurricane Florence," said Tad Hutcheson, Delta's Managing Director of Community Engagement. "We are grateful to have partners like the American Red Cross and to be able to contribute to experts that specialize in disaster response  year-round and can help  provide immediate assistance to those in need."

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For the eighth consecutive year, Delta has earned a spot in the transportation section of the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index.

This year's ranking comes on the heels of Delta publishing its latest Corporate Responsibility Report, which outlines the environmental, social and governance steps that Delta is voluntarily taking to be a more responsible corporation, to lessen its impact on the environment and position it as an industry leader.

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