The airline industry must reassess its target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 as progress on sustainable aviation fuels falls short.
Willie Walsh reiterated concerns about the European Union’s environmental policies and their economic repercussions at the ISTAT Americas conference in Phoenix on March 3.
Walsh cast doubt on Airbus’s hydrogen-powered aircraft plan for 2035, stating that major technology changes are unlikely before 2050.
He said changes in U.S. regulations under Donald Trump could affect the industry’s competitiveness, especially if Europe’s policies remain overly restrictive.
Mr Walsh shared “We are going to have to revisit it, we are not making as strong a progress on sustainable aviation fuels as we thought. There will be a re-evaluation. There will be airlines that say we cannot do this. The industry will be a bit more fragmented. Some airlines that committed to 2030 SAF targets will regret it. The EU is mad in its pursuit of environmental goals because it is completely disconnected from the economic impact. This approach is a model of how not to do it. Europe has been overly regulated, which has made it very uncompetitive.”
