JetBlue Releases Annual Social Impact and Environmental Social Governance Reports Showcasing Its Progress in Helping to Create a Kinder and Cleaner World
October 12 2021 - 2:00PM
Business Wire
-- Airline’s Mission to Inspire Humanity Became
More Important than Ever with Efforts Focused on Customer and
Crewmember Safety, Supporting STEM Education and Reimagining
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion --
-- JetBlue Continued to Lead in Environmental
Social Governance with Ambitious Targets to Reach Net Zero Carbon
Emissions by 2040 --
JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU) today released its 2020 Social Impact
Report and 2019-2020 Environmental Social Governance Report.
The Social Impact Report outlines the JetBlue For Good pillars –
community, youth and education and the environment – and highlights
how the airline supported its communities and crewmembers through
the most challenging time in the aviation industry’s history, and
took meaningful actions to accelerate its journey to become more
representative and inclusive in every aspect of its business. The
Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Report outlines JetBlue’s
work toward sustainable operations and travel solutions, and its
sharpened focus on identifying, tracking, and responding to risks
and opportunities shaping the future of its business.
“In 2020 our mission to inspire humanity was tested like never
before,” said Joanna Geraghty, president and chief operating
officer, JetBlue. “Humanity depends on compassion, and empathy, and
our crewmembers took this to heart. They showed up and went above
and beyond to keep our customers safe when they needed to travel.
Despite a global pandemic, we continued to support our communities,
crewmembers and the planet. With a focus on the future, we evolved
our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy to support a more
diverse pipeline. Meanwhile, we recognize we have more work to do
in reaching our ambitious sustainability targets, so we set clear
short-term milestones to hold us accountable along the way.”
JetBlue responded to pandemic-specific needs in 2020 by donating
both resources and flights to nonprofits to get much needed
supplies and medical professionals to the areas in critical need.
JetBlue took on these efforts in addition to its signature
corporate responsibility programs focused on youth, education, the
environment and increasing diversity within aviation and science,
technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
Over the past 18 months, societal demands and stakeholder
feedback spurred JetBlue to reexamine its relationships with its
crewmembers, customers and the communities it serves, and in turn,
strengthen shareholder value. Aligned with its long-term strategy,
JetBlue reimagined its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
strategy to contribute to the airline’s long-term growth by
starting with a concentrating on three areas – people, sourcing and
brand.
JetBlue For Good 2020 highlights –
Youth and Education
- One opportunity that emerged as a result COVID-19 pandemic was
a renewed global spotlight on the importance of science. Despite a
shift from traditional classrooms to virtual learning, JetBlue
continued to introduce traditionally underrepresented students to
the various possibilities within aviation. JetBlue and the
organizations it partners with worked together to not only spark
students’ interest in STEM, but also break down barriers that block
or prevent underserved youth from advancing in these areas. As the
efforts of many organizations to advance diversity, and racial and
gender equity were severely impacted by the pandemic, the JetBlue
Foundation issued an emergency granting cycle to help organizations
like Aviation High School, Columbia Memorial Space Center, and the
Latino Pilots Association continue their important work.
- Much like school classrooms need desks, chairs, textbooks and
teachers, virtual classrooms also require resources to be
effective. To help support the shift to virtual learning, JetBlue
and its crewmembers volunteered more than 500 hours in virtual
classrooms and activities, donated 160 refurbished laptops to
ensure students passionate about STEM could continue their
education from home, and engaged with 25 STEM-focused organizations
via online programming, grants and in-kind support.
Community
- JetBlue pivoted to support its community partners in creative
ways and donated much needed supplies, such as blankets, pillows
and amenity kits to organizations like the City of New York and its
Department of Social Services to help clothe and care for the
homeless and other vulnerable communities. JetBlue donated
headphones to education partners, like Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Broward County, to assist in virtual learning, and provided
toiletry kits to local shelters. Dishware and cutlery were sent to
local soup kitchens through a partnership with the United Way of
Broward County, as well as local soup kitchens in Boston.
- Through its TrueBlue® loyalty program, JetBlue and its
customers donated three million TrueBlue points to charities
including Autism Speaks, Make-A-Wish®, Together We Rise and World
Central Kitchen to assist with critical travel needs and
fundraising efforts.
Environment
- JetBlue continued to take major steps in reducing its impact on
the environment. Last summer, JetBlue became the first airline to
achieve carbon neutrality for all U.S. domestic flights by
offsetting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from jet fuel and flying
with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Since 2008, JetBlue has
offset more than three million metric tons of CO2 emissions, the
equivalent of taking 652,000 cars off the road for a year, and
plans to continue offsetting all domestic flying indefinitely.
- JetBlue is currently flying on SAF from two different producers
for flights at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San
Francisco International Airport (SFO). This began in 2020 with
Neste, the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel and SAF
refined from waste and residues, to fuel JetBlue’s flights from
SFO. Neste’s SAF is produced from 100 percent renewable and
sustainably sourced waste and residue materials.
Geraghty continued, “We’re facing climate change head-on to work
toward a healthier planet, ensure our success and strengthen
shareholder value. Despite a challenging year, we have sharpened
our focus on ESG. Our experiences in 2020 only reinforced the
importance of mitigating risks that threaten the health of our
business."
Ambitious ESG Targets and Governance
JetBlue accelerated its commitment to take critical and
measurable steps toward reducing its contribution to climate
change. JetBlue announced several environmental targets to help
reach its goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040,
including efforts to:
- Decrease aircraft emissions 25 percent per available seat mile
(ASM) by 2030 from 2015 levels, excluding offsets.
- Convert 10 percent total jet fuel to blended sustainable
aviation fuel by 2030.
- Convert 40 percent of three main ground service equipment
vehicle types to electric by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030.
- Eliminate single-use plastics within service ware where
possible. Where not possible, ensure plastic is recyclable.
- Maintain at least an 80 percent recycling rate for audited
domestic flights.
JetBlue recognizes that ESG issues touch all parts of its
business. To ensure the airline is appropriately identifying and
managing potential ESG-related risks and opportunities, such as
those associated with climate change, JetBlue has incorporated ESG
considerations into core business functions starting at the top
with its Board of Directors. JetBlue’s Board formed an ESG
Subcommittee to the Governance and Nominating Committee to ensure
the Board is aware of JetBlue’s ESG strategy and has a
comprehensive understanding of ESG matters. JetBlue also linked,
for the first time, key ESG targets to its senior leaders’ long
term incentive plan (LTIP) compensation.
JetBlue For Good is JetBlue’s platform for social impact and
corporate responsibility – Combining JetBlue’s corporate
efforts with its customers’ and crewmembers’ passions, the common
theme is Good – JetBlue For Good. Giving back is part of JetBlue’s
DNA and is core to its mission of inspiring humanity. Centered on
volunteerism and service, JetBlue For Good focuses on the areas
that are most important to the airline’s customers and crewmembers
- community, youth/education and the environment.
JetBlue believes in communicating transparently about climate
change. The airline is committed to taking steps to address the
emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from its flights and JetBlue
empowers and inspires its customers and crewmembers to offset GHG
emissions when they fly. The airline is constantly looking for ways
to enhance the sustainability of its travel through more fuel
efficient technologies, increasing its usage of sustainable
aviation fuel, and supporting the next generation of alternative
energy aircraft.
JetBlue’s 2020 Social Impact Report can be found here and the
2019-2020 ESG Report can be found here.
About JetBlue Airways
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline®, and a leading carrier
in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles, Orlando and San
Juan. JetBlue carries customers across the U.S., Caribbean and
Latin America, and between New York and London. For more
information, visit jetblue.com.
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JetBlue Corporate Communications corpcomm@jetblue.com
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