Were you planning to forget about all the things to do on vacation that went out the window due to airline issues (as in cost and environmental concerns)? If you were, then stop moaning and start packing your bags. Because as of June 23, there’s been a fully green flight provider in business. Photo copyrights - SeaPort Airlines.

Ok, so I picked this story up from Wired, which says “World’s First Green Airline”. I poked around for a bit, and found the press statement from the airline in question - SeaPort Air (www.seaportair.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of SeaPort Air Group, LLC, a Portland based company founded by investors John Beardsley, Tom Carrollo and Kent Craford.  The airline operates flights between Seattle and Portland, using a fleet of 3 planes.

The airline’s press release says “America’s first green airline”. In between the press statement and the Wired article, the airline somehow morphed from America’s first green airline to the first green airline in the world. I don’t really know if there’s any other airline in the world who does this, but…

Anyway, getting back to the main issue - Which is that SeaPort is donating the equivalent of “carbon offset” funds by joining in a partnership with Vancouver, Washington-based Columbia Land Trust to help preserve forestland in the Pacific Northwest. The Columbia Land Trust uses financial contributions from private donors to identify priority conservations lands to purchase with significant scenic, recreation or habitat qualities.

SeaPort Airlines operates Pilatus PC-12 aircrafts, a Swiss-built pressurized turboprop that burns only 51 gallons of jet fuel per Seattle-Portland segment, on average. “By operating one of the most efficient aircraft in commercial aviation, not only are we able to control our jet fuel costs, but we’re also able to go one step further and mitigate the environmental impact of our fuel consumption,” said Kent Craford, SeaPort Airlines CEO in the press statement.

So basically, that’s a double whammy that Seaport has over the other commercial Airliners - It uses less fuel in the first place, and whatever little it does use, it offsets from its own pocket. Which is a heck of a lot more than what is currently the norm - Continental offering to ‘help’ customers offset their share of the carbon usage using the customers’ money. Seaport has a sound plan, and hopefully they’ll be able to expand and grow from Seattle-Portland (Seaport) to EastWest (Coast to coast). Dunno if their dinky plane can support the flight, but that’s what technology is for - To come with innovations to help fill the need.

Posted on September 3rd, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: News