"LAX"

US carrier Delta Air Lines has reached a penultimate moment in the transformation process of its hub at Los Angeles LAX airport.

To be specific, the airline has now opened its brand new Delta One check-in area in the refurbished LAX Terminal 3. In addition to that, it has opened a new entrance to the check in all via the west headhouse at T3.

Sky Way at LAX project

The opening of these two areas at LAX marks the second to last phase in Delta’s “Delta Sky Way at LAX” project, which has seen a complete revamp of its home at Terminal 3 at the airport, to improve the entire passenger experience, for the airline’s customers flying out of LAX.

“We’re building on our position as LAX’s leading premium global carrier and achieving yet another infrastructure milestone ahead of schedule – enabling an ever-elevated travel journey for our Los Angeles customers”, said Scott Santoro, Vice President of Global Sales.

He added, “Now that the summer travel season has officially kicked off, Delta couldn’t be more ready to get our customers where they want to go most”.

The Delta One Check-in area

As seen in the photo above, Delta has shown off a preview of what its Delta One customers will see and get to experience when flying out of LAX from now on.

Located on the lower arrivals level of Terminal 3, the new Delta One check in area features a rich a modern finish and has its own private TSA screening lane as well as direct access to the Delta Sky Club.

In addition, Delta One customers will also be greeted by a team of elite service agents dedicated to providing white-glove service.

Furthermore, the Delta One Check in area will feature artwork from two local artists in partnership with AirLifting – a social enterprise that champions artists impacted by disabilities and housing insecurity.

All in all, Delta has ensured that within this design that their Delta One customers get the best experience possible when flying out of LAX and from what the photo previews, the airline appears to have hit that mark.

The West Headhouse

As for the West Headhouse, this area of Terminal 3 at LAX features self service kiosks to drop bags and/or print boarding passes.

All of this goes towards passengers having another access point at T3 to easily check themselves in and get to security in the shortest time possible with little hassle.

Later on this summer, Delta plans to add to the West Headhouse with the implementation of digital ID technology at bag drop and security checkpoints.

This new feature will allow eligible customers to use their biometric data to move more seamlessly through the airport.

“I’m eager eager for guests to enjoy Delta’s new West Headhouse and Delta One check in and ticketing lobby at LAX’s terminal 3, in addition to the entire Delta Sky Way Project when it opens later this summer.”

“These projects truly are establishing the new norm of first rate guest experiences passengers will find across LAX”.

“My deep appreciation goes to Delta, Hensel Phelps, the team at LAWA, our shared community of supporters and the workers who are continuing to usher the Delta Sky Way project forward”, said Justin Erbacci, Chief Executive Officer of LAWA.

Planning for the future

With this next phase in Delta’s Sky Way project complete the airline is gearing up for the future of air travel as it looks to re-envision the way its customers use its LAX hub.

The new Terminal 3 has come along way since it made its debut in 2022 with features including a new security checkpoint, baggage claim area, Delta Sky Club and more.

Now with how far the terminal has come, the project is now due to finish 18 months earlier than expected.

One of the main motives behind the refurbishment of the T3 is to make way for a smooth and effortless transition for customers who will be piling into LAX during the LA Summer Olympics.

With everything on track, things are looking good for Delta at LAX.

Delta Air Lines has signed an agreement with Shell Aviation to purchase up to 10 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) for its Los Angeles International Airport hub.

The acquistation of this amount of SAF will come over the next 2 years, in a bid by Delta to significantly decarbonise one of its West Coast hubs.

With the airline purchasing this 10 million gallons of SAF, it increases Delta’s commitment to over 200 million gallons of SAF purchased.

This figure is reportedly over halfway to its goal of compromising 10% of fuel on all flights in exchange for SAF by 2030.

This also means that the airline is well on its way to achieving its follow up goal of compromising 35% of fuel on all flights in exchange of SAF by 2035.

As ever Delta is another major airline in the world that also intends on reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

With this in mind, it is worth noting that Delta’s plans also work out perfectly alongside those of Shell Aviation’s who also aims to hit net zero by 2050.

Pioneering the use of SAF

Delta’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Pam Fletcher makes a good point in a statement made by the airline saying “There isn’t enough SAF available today to fuel the world’s commercial airlines for a single day”.

She followed this up with, “That’s why Delta continues creating demand signals like arrangement with Shell – to show this major decarbonisation lever is worth investing in and growing.”

“We can have a huge impact in just a few years if stakeholders and government work together to provide the same level of investment and incentives currently available for the fuel that runs our cars”.

Indeed, all that is said by Fletcher is true, with future methods of reaching and maintaining net zero within aviation still being far from ready for everyday use, such as hydrogen powered planes. SAF is the way forward to fill the gap and begin the decarbonisation process.

So with Delta making constant moves to increase the demand for SAF, it should portray them as a role model and an incentive – not only to stakeholders and government as Fletcher said, but to other airlines across the globe.

Delta’s LAX hub will be able to receive its blended SAF with ease, thanks to California’s long standing low carbon fuel standard.

This measure provides incentives for producers and suppliers to provide SAF to the state with confidence.

Following on from that, other states are reportedly looking into similar techniques, which means Delta will be able to look into massively decarbonising its other US hubs such as Seattle, New York and Atlanta, with the same framework and ease it does in California and Los Angeles.

Summary

Overall we see here that Delta is re-establishing its commitment towards the use of SAF as the worldwide aviation industry looks to follow in the airline’s footsteps to decarbonising the industry.

Jan Toschka, President of Shell Aviation pointed this out saying, “It’s brilliant to see Delta prioritise SAF, helping them to reduce lifecycle emissions while providing the demand that will help unlock further SAF production and scale supply.”

“This marks another important development for the future of sustainable aviation, as ambitious offtake agreements like this can hold the key to driving the airline industry’s transition towards a more sustainable future.”

With this new development signed for, it will be intriguing to see what the next step from Delta will be over the coming years as they strive closer towards their goals.

American low-cost airline jetBlue has revealed that it is to join forces with one of the world’s largest fuel suppliers, Shell Aviation, in a bid to bring more Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to LAX Airport, Los Angeles.  

The agreement states that LAX will receive ten million gallons of blended SAF over the course of the next two years, and includes an option for a further five million gallons in year three.

Noting how this deal is a step in the right direction to improving the carriers carbon footprint, Chief Executive Officer of jetBlue, Robin Hayes said:

“We’ve long said we need multiple key stakeholders to step up to reach our aggressive emissions reduction goals. This deal with Shell is a key signal of the growing engagement of the major fuel producers to begin converting conventional jet fuel to SAF.”

SAF reduces natural greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% when compared to traditional fuel. It also has the added benefit of being a ‘drop in solution’ which means that the aircraft does not have to undergo any modifications to carry or utilise the fuel, whilst also not being detrimental to the jets. 

Turning waste into fuel

Sustainable Aviation Fuel is manufactured from a range of renewable sources called feedstocks. Examples include: carbon captured from the air, used cooking oil, and forestry or agricultural wastes.

Using feedstocks allows carbon to be recycled, instead of being added into the atmosphere afresh. Hayes continued, detailing why Shell were the right company to join forces with: 

“Shell’s involvement, with their expertise in energy markets and logistics, is a validation of the SAF market’s potential and highlights how critical the SAF transition of our hard-to-decarbonize industry is to establishing a more sustainable future of flight”

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The announcement will form the first steps in jetBlues roadmap to be net carbon zero by 2040. A determined goal it seems, as the industry standard for airlines to be at net zero is 2050. 

When rolled out, the increase in supply of SAF will boost jetBlue’s total LAX fuel uptake to around 15 percent.

“It’s terrific to be supporting JetBlue once again in its decarbonization efforts,” said Jan Toschka, President of Shell Aviation. “Like Shell, JetBlue understands that SAF will be the key technology to help decarbonize flight.”

Toschka: Delighted to support greener travel

“LAX is a critical North American airport hub and we’re delighted to be able to provide JetBlue and corporations on its Sustainable Travel Partners program access to SAF, allowing them to lower their emissions while jointly contributing to investments in SAF,” Toschka concluded. 

These plans to make California a greener state coincide with arrangements jetBlue made in 2022, where they signed deals for the future supply of SAF out of San Francisco Airport, where jetBlue already operates blended-fuel flights.

“Working with Shell will not only help grow the availability of SAF in the long-term, but also ensure this transition is sustainable from a business perspective, by building the connections and infrastructure to help keep the cost of SAF competitive with traditional fuel” said, Sara Bogdan, director sustainability and ESG, JetBlue. 

Sustainable Aviation Fuel is more expensive than standard jet fuel, so airlines will depend on government initiatives that encourages carriers to start using more lower carbon fuels as it becomes more readily available in the industry.