By 
Truly sustainable planes with alternative fuel or higher efficiency may still be many, many miles away, but Southwest seems to be have introduced a quick layover with yesterday’s debut of their “Green Plane.”
The greening of the plane is based mostly on eco-friendly interior materials, from InterfaceFLOR carpeting to new lightweight, leather-like leather alternatives for their seats, to a more environmentally-friendly life vest pouch!
According to Reuters, all of the initiatives being tested on this Green Plane combine to a add up to a weight savings of almost five pounds per seat, thus saving fuel and reducing emissions. Southwest also announced that next month, they’re kicking off a more robust onboard recycling program that will allow the airline to capture more recyclable material and divert it from the waste stream.
Gary Kelly, Southwest’s Chairman, President, and CEO is ”Honored to be working with eco-friendly vendors and partners at Boeing, excited to test their forward-thinking products, and expects these green products to not only help the environment, but also create a fuel and materials cost saving for Southwest.”
I’m excited to see when these cost savings lead to free meals again.
You can read more about how Southwest cares about the environment by downloading their report, “Southwest Cares.”
Now if airlines can work on doing away with the totally pointless, totally wasteful luggage plastic wrap offered at airports around the world. Talk about making something totally unnecessary and completely unsustainable!
