Alaska Airlines is focusing on flying the eco-friendly skies with a new sustainable fuel deal. The airline has signed a four-year agreement with renewable fuel producer Neste.
“We are, as an industry and I think as a society, we’re on a journey to make sure that we are reducing carbon emissions and protecting our environment,” Diana Birkett Rakow, vice president of external relations at Alaska Airlines, told Cheddar. “And there’s no time like the present to keep making progress.”
Rakow said Alaska Airlines has flown 80 trial flights using sustainable fuel. Renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel will now be used on all of its flights out of San Francisco.
“Our long-term goal is to make sustainable fuel a viable, commercially available, scalable product that we can use across all of our operations and really for all of aviation,” Rakow said.
Customers should not notice any changes during their in-flight experience. The change comes as more and more consumers are voicing demands for increased sustainability from big businesses, even beyond the air travel industry.
“One of the things that’s actually going to make reducing carbon emissions successful is involving our guests in wanting us to move in this direction, in purchasing carbon offsets, and continuing to demand that more and more airlines use sustainable fuel so that we can build a sustainable market for this product,” Rakow said.
Alaska Airlines is currently trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated air travel. Rakow said the airline was flying 130,000 passengers per day pre-pandemic, but at the lowest point dropped to 5,000. She said about 35,000 to 45,000 passengers are now flying per day.
Ed Siddell, CEO and chief investment officer with EGSI Financial, joined Cheddar News to discuss Thursday's positive trading session in what Siddell called "a year of momentum" as investors continue to digest a heavy amount of news that includes monetary policy, inflation concerns, banking fears and some positive economic data.
Rivian is expanding into New York City and launching its first showroom there. Cheddar News took a look at the showroom in NYC that the company is calling "spaces," which is intended to be experiential retail locations to woo new customers.
Rebecca Walser, certified financial planner and wealth strategist, offers tips on how to avoid money mistakes, develop healthy spending habits, and pay off debts.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it hopes to weed out false or misleading animal-welfare claims on meat and poultry packaging with new guidance and testing.
If you're looking for food that's good for you and the planet, look no further than the new Isle of Us café and marketplace in the Upper East Side. Cheddar's own Shannon LaNier is on the scene with more.
The price of one kitchen staple is dropping at a historic rate. In May, egg prices had their largest monthly decline in 72 years. Ricky Richardson, CEO of South Carolina-based Eggs Up Grill, joined Cheddar News to discuss the state of play in the egg industry as prices fall while food costs overall are on the rise again. Egg prices are "returning to more normal levels now, we're running down about 40% on a year-over-year basis," he said.
