American Airlines Participating In Leading Contrail Avoidance Research - Simple Flying

American Airlines Participating In Leading Contrail Avoidance Research

Summary

- American Airlines collaborated with Google Research and Breakthrough Energy to conduct research on contrail avoidance, using satellite energy verification.
- Contrails, formed by airplane engine exhaust, contribute to global warming by trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere.
- The research teams utilized AI predictions to adjust flight routes and successfully reduced contrail creation by over 50%, showing the possibility of limiting aviation's climate impact.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline American Airlines announced recent findings regarding contrail avoidance today. The results of the research study, which was done in accordance with leading research groups from Google Research and Breakthrough Energy, were verified by satellite energy.

New research supported by American Airlines

Contrails are formed from the exhaust of airplane engines. The water vapor that is expended by the engines condenses around small dust particles and forms the streaking white lines that are commonly seen throughout a clear sky. The contrails have a negative effect on the environment because the newly formed ice clouds trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere that would have otherwise been released into space. This accounts for over 35% of aviation's global warming impact per the 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

In an effort to learn more about the effects and possibility of avoiding contrails, American Airlines supported research conducted by Google Research and Breakthrough Energy. The teams tested whether it was possible to identify zones in the atmosphere that would be more or less likely to create contrails. The research teams also determined whether pilots would have the ability to avoid high-possibility zones if given the specific data.

The Vice President of Sustainability at American Airlines, Jill Blickstein, spoke about the team's new findings. Blickstein stated,

"American is grateful for the opportunity to work with our partners at Google Research and Breakthrough Energy to help advance the science on contrail avoidance. The results from this small-scale test are encouraging, and, while clearly there are more questions to answer about how to operationalize contrails avoidance across our industry, we’re excited to have played a role in establishing this first proof point. And we’re looking forward to sharing what we learned with stakeholders in the aviation industry and beyond."

The research needed large data collection

The team initially dug into the project by sampling large data sets from satellite imagery, weather, and flight paths across the world. Then, the team utilized artificial intelligence to create forecast maps where contrails would likely show up. American Airlines supported the research by providing the team with a small group of pilots that would fly 70 flights over the course of six months. These pilots flew routes that were slightly adjusted to create contrails.

After the flights were conducted, Google Research analyzed the resulting flight data and what contrails formed from the flights through satellite imagery. The team found that the routes that utilized AI predictions to avoid contrails ended up reducing contrail creation by over 50%. This was compared to flight routes that were not adjusted to avoid contrail creation. The Director of Breakthrough Energy Contrails, Marc Shapiro, spoke about the success. He stated,

"Avoiding contrails might be one of the best ways to limit aviation’s climate impact, and now we have a clear demonstration that it’s possible to do so. This study is a great example of what happens when creative, ambitious organizations work together to better understand and solve a tough problem, and we're grateful for American’s and Google’s partnership."

This finding is a small first step in avoiding contrail creation in commercial-grade flights. However, it is still necessary to replicate the successful data and replicate it at a larger scale. The Director of Breakthrough Energy Contrails, Marc Shapiro, spoke about the success. He stated,