The commercial aviation sector accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It’s not much, but it’s also huge, considering that only a small fraction of the world’s population flies on a regular basis. However, solutions already exist to make airplanes much less polluting than they are now, if not downright carbon neutral, faith of Sébastien Fabre, CEO of SITA for Aircraft, one of the most unknown and influential companies in the international sky. .
SITA was founded by eleven airlines 72 years ago to develop international civil aviation. The organization is now divided into three entities: SITA at Airports provides tools for registering and tracking passenger baggage. SITA at Borders helps enforce government security measures at airports. SITA for Aircraft develops digital solutions to optimize the experience on board aircraft.
From the use of biometrics to speed up boarding to the use of artificial intelligence to reduce fuel consumption, these three entities share a single mission: to bring commercial aviation to the 21e century, assures Sébastien Fabre.
Carbon neutral aviation
The International Air Transportation Alliance, or IATA, has set itself the goal of stopping the increase in pollutant emissions to 2020 levels, then gradually reducing their volume until carbon neutrality is achieved in 2050. At first glance, this is an ambitious goal, but one that can be overtaken by airlines more concerned about their environmental record, says Sébastien Fabre.
“Aviation will achieve carbon neutrality by reducing its emissions in three ways. At present, 40% of the effort will come by reducing engine consumption, which will be done in different ways, including the introduction of hybrid powertrains. Another 40% reduction will be achieved by swapping current fuels for sustainable aviation fuels (called “SAF” for sustainable aviation fuel oil, in English of course). The remaining 20% will come from flight optimization. This is what SITA for Aircraft is already doing. For example, 5% of the consumption of airplanes is done during movements on the ground. We can almost eliminate this proportion by optimizing these movements. “
A (better) pilot on the plane
During a typical flight, there are two phases that can be better predicted to make aviation less polluting once in the air: during take-off and after reaching cruising altitude. Better take-off management can have an astonishing impact on the GHGs emitted by each of the aircraft currently in operation in the world. For a Boeing 777 – one of the most widely used aircraft models in the commercial sector – SITA for Aircraft calculates that it can reduce the amount of CO by 234 kilos2 issued through its IT tools. These are 230 tonnes of CO2 per year by plane that it is possible to subtract from the global balance sheet as of today, indicates its managing director.
“We can then take more precise account of the weather – for example, the direction of the winds – and the traffic from the airport to the destination to optimize the cruising speed and altitude. We can thus reduce the average consumption of a commercial flight by 10%. We will be able to prove it thanks to a partnership with Bombardier since our tools will be installed by default on its new Challenger 3500. With the optimizations during take-off, it is already 15% of the 20% target reduction that we can obtain now, immediately . “
Facial recognition
One of the innovations present at the new international terminal at Beijing Airport is the use of biometric recognition to speed up the check-in of passengers and their baggage, then their passage through security and finally their boarding. All this can now be done without anything in hand except a smartphone. And although many questions remain about how these systems manage personal data, the technology continues to be of interest to air carriers. The Star Alliance group, of which Air Canada is a part, fully intends to adopt biometrics at its airports – which includes the Montreal airport – as soon as possible.
“In this system, your phone becomes like your remote control. You check in from home and then everything else is taken care of. The technology is already working very well. The vaccine passport complicates things a bit, but we have created another technology that will integrate it into the process in a transparent manner. For data processing, it is the same thing that is currently done: SITA does not keep any confidential information, it relies on airline or government databases, as the case may be. The only limit to the implementation of this technology is the ability to invest airlines and airports, since this requires reviewing the space allocated to baggage drop-off and check-in, among other things. “
The passenger flight experience
Flying is a very special experience for many reasons and casually, this experience has improved greatly over the past twenty years. Boarding passes printed in triplicate are a thing of the past. In-flight entertainment has greatly adapted to the needs of travelers. The wait at the airport is more comfortable. And yet, flying in 2021 remains a trying activity for many travelers. Airport security, tight connections, turbulence… The industry does not control everything, but can still make the experience more pleasant, admits Sébastien Fabre.
“The entire transport industry has to be reinvented. Already, passengers prefer medium and long haul nonstop. In Europe, we started to prefer the train for the shortest journeys. But even for the longest journeys, it is direct flights in smaller single-aisle planes that could become the norm. “