Climate Lobbying Overview: Delta Air Lines appears to have mixed engagement with specific climate policies in 2021-23. Delta has consistently advocated for a US sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) blenders tax credit in the US, while having negative engagement on numerous strands of other climate-related regulations, including the US Renewable Fuel Standard. Delta remains a member of multiple industry associations with active negative engagement on US, EU, and global climate regulations for aviation.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Delta has mixed top-line messaging on climate change, with increasingly positive messaging in 2022. In its March 2022 ‘Climate Lobbying’ Report, Delta appeared to support both a net-zero 2050 carbon emissions goal for aviation and the Paris Agreement. In a 2021 BBC article, Delta CEO, Ed Bastian, also stated that “moving aviation to net-zero carbon emissions is the right approach”, while a Senior Executive disclosed that Delta are conducting “constructive conversations with policymakers” and advocated for “strong federal climate leadership” in a September 2021 news release. More negatively, Delta’s 2022 Climate Lobbying report suggests Delta is unsupportive of stringent regional climate regulation for aviation, stating “without global harmonization, a patchwork of regional or national measures would only serve to increase the administrative burden and cost for airlines”.

**Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Delta has mixed engagement on key climate-related regulations for aviation. In its March 2022 ‘Climate Lobbying’ report, Delta stated support for ICAO’s CORSIA offsetting scheme. However, in the same disclosure, Delta also appeared to support the change from CORSIA’s baseline date from 2019-20 to 2020 only, weakening the emissions reduction potential of the scheme.

Delta appears to have consistently advocated for policy incentives for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In August 2021, the company signed a joint letter to policymakers, advocating for a refundable SAF-specific blenders tax credit. Similarly, in November 2021, Delta endorsed the state of Georgia’s introduction of grants for SAF under the ‘Aviation Emissions Reduction Opportunity (AERO)’ Act, according to a Senator Warnock press release. Delta’s 2021 ESG report, published in June 2022, also expressed support for a federal SAF-specific blenders tax credit and Reuters reported in May 2021 that Delta signed a letter of support to policymakers, advocating for a SAF tax credit. Furthermore, in a February 2023 oral testimony on Washington’s proposed SAF-blenders tax credit, a Delta Senior Executive stated support for the bill. In February 2023, Delta also signed a joint letter which urged policymakers to support Washington’s proposed SAF blenders tax credit.

In its 2022 ‘Climate Lobbying’ report, Delta also disclosed that it supported SAF provisions in the Build Back Better package. Similarly, according to a press release from Congressman Dan Kildee in August 2022, Delta applauded provisions supporting the production of SAFs under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Delta, however, appears unsupportive of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandates in its 2022 ‘Climate Lobbying’ report, stating that opposition to SAF mandates “reflects the aviation industry’s concern that mandates, rather than incentives … will not support the industry’s ambitious decarbonization goals”. Delta’s 2021 ESG report also stated that climate policy for aviation should be “designed to incentivize rather than mandate a zero-carbon trajectory at the lowest-cost…in order to commercialize the nascent SAF industry”.

According to a May 2021 report by Reuters, Delta also supported weakening obligations from the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS), allegedly arguing that the costs were “overly burdensome”. Similarly, Delta disclosed in its 2022 Climate Lobbying report that it had advocated to weaken the US Renewable Fuel Standard by supporting lower volume requirements. In the same report, Delta also disclosed opposition to applying the Washington cap and invest legislation to aircraft emissions. However, in Delta’s 2021 ESG report, published in 2022, and in a June 2022 news release, Delta appeared to support California’s low-carbon fuel standard as a measure to incentivize SAF production through a voluntary opt-in provision.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Delta has mixed engagement on policies to transition the energy mix for aviation. A March 2023 Reuters article stated that Delta was taking joint legal action to oppose the Dutch government's policy to reduce flights at Schiphol airport. Delta appeared to support a transition to SAFs from kerosene jet fuel in 2021-23. In its 2021 ESG report, published in 2022, Delta stated that SAFs “will play a key role in aviation’s decarbonization pathway” and appeared to support a shift to power-to-liquid fuels “over the long term”. In an interview published by Shell in March 2022, Amelia DeLuca, Delta’s Managing Director of Sustainability, expressed support for SAFs alongside electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft. However, DeLuca stated that SAF must be “just as accessible as oil” in an October 2021 newsletter.

Industry Association Governance: In March 2022, Delta published its first review of its industry association memberships and their alignment on climate change. Delta identified areas of misalignment with three industry associations: American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), Business Roundtable, and US Chamber of Commerce including steps it has taken to address these misalignments. However, the company retains membership to all three industry associations, including executive positions at AFPM and US Chamber, despite consistent and negative opposition to ambitious climate policy. Delta also disclosed membership to International Air Transport Association (IATA), and that its CEO is on the board of Airlines for America (A4A), both of which negatively engage on climate policy for aviation.

A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.

InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q1 2023.