Delta plans to invest $1 billion over the next 10 years to become and remain carbon neutral as of March 1, the carrier announced.
The investment will include "enterprise-wide efforts" to cut jet fuel use, including adding more fuel-efficient aircraft, improving operations and helping with the development of sustainable aircraft fuels. It also includes investing in projects and technology to remove emissions from the atmosphere and working with its employees and customers to minimize impact.
Last summer, Delta revealed that it had been piloting a program to offset carbon emissions with some of its corporate clients, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck, UCB and Columbia Sportswear.
As the airline industry faces increasing scrutiny of its environmental impact—air travel as of 2018 accounted for about 2.4 percent of total global carbon emissions—several airlines have been pledging deeper investment in offsetting that impact. JetBlue earlier this year said it would offset carbon dioxide emissions on all domestic flights as of July. EasyJet last year began offsetting emissions across its entire network, and British Airways began offsetting all flights within the United Kingdom at the beginning of this year.