That\u2019s the good news. <\/span><\/p>\n
Atmosfair<\/a>, a German research organization that evaluates airlines for environmental sustainability, ranks Hawaiian only middle of the pack<\/a> among long-haul carriers serving the islands. <\/span><\/p>\n
In an interview with Hawaiian\u2019s inflight magazine Hana Hou<\/a>, Hawaiian President and CEO Mark Dunkerley said Hawaiian\u2019s reluctance to use biofuel blends is largely due to safety reasons<\/a> because Hawaiian flies over oceans. <\/span><\/p>\n
Take Singapore Airlines<\/a> — another safety conscious carrier. <\/span><\/p>\n
Singapore is now running a trial<\/a> of weekly 8,446-mile flights from San Francisco to Singapore (twice the distance from the U.S. West Coast to Hawaii and all over water) using a biofuel blend in an Airbus A350-900.<\/span><\/p>\n
For its part, Airbus is so confident about biofuels<\/a> it offers to deliver newly-built A350s from Toulouse to buyers using a biofuel blend.<\/span><\/p>\n
Take Alaska Airlines<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n
Alaska\u2019s routinely using biofuel blends<\/a>. It\u2019s also buying biofuel from island-based Hawaii Bioenergy, presumably for the airline\u2019s flights (over water) from Honolulu to Anchorage.<\/span><\/p>\n
Where\u2019s Hawaiian?<\/span><\/p>\n
For its part, Hawaiian\u2019s biggest recent announced sustainability initiative has been to test plugging in its planes to mains power while parked at airports. The goal, naturally, is to reduce ground-based jet fuel consumption<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n
In another touted initiative, Hawaiian also says its flights now routinely carry atmospheric monitoring equipment<\/a> to contribute data to climate change studies. <\/span><\/p>\n
Hawaii already has a foot firmly placed in the future. Does Hawaiian?<\/span><\/p>\n