NBAA Recognizes First Sustainable Flight Department Accreditation Recipients

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has named the first business aviation companies to earn its Sustainable Flight Department Accreditation. Initial recipients include Mente LLC, Monarch Air Group, DBA Mercury Jets, Netflix, Steelcase Inc. and Textron Aviation’s Wichita Service Center. According to NBAA, the goal of the program is “to promote a culture of sustainability by encouraging companies to think and act critically, and to implement as many sustainability strategies as possible.”

“This is a pivotal moment for our industry’s commitment to sustainability,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “We are taking bold strides to drastically reduce our impact on the climate and meet our goal of net-zero flight by 2050. We know the way forward, we have a strong vision, a deep commitment and the ingenuity to make this a reality.”

Launched earlier this year, NBAA’s Sustainable Flight Department Accreditation program offers separate accreditations in flight, ground support, operations and infrastructure categories. The program is designed as a tiered standard with the lowest “Transition Tier” requiring proof of at least a 10 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions or offsetting over the previous calendar year as compared to the company’s baseline year. The highest tier, Tier 6, represents a 95 percent or greater net reduction in CO₂ emissions from the baseline year. NBAA noted that it plans to continue completing accreditation audits throughout the year.

Accreditation criteria can be found on NBAA’s Sustainable Flight Department Accreditation Program website.