Air Cargo Green Account – Air Cargo Week
Since planes began flying commercially, air freight has become an invisible highway, quickly and quietly moving everything from medicine to fresh fruit to time-sensitive e-commerce packages all over the map. But the industry’s carbon mark is looming, and the question has shifted from whether sustainability matters to how quickly can we move to achieve it?
Canada: When politics leads
Ottawa is not standing still. Canada was one of the first countries in the hemisphere to commit to reducing net aviation emissions to zero by 2050, introducing the Clean Fuel Standard and incentives for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. Air Canada Cargo has partnered with SAF for international routes and is upgrading to fuel-efficient cargo aircraft.
Canada’s advantage? A compact domestic market means less carbon-intensive regional flying. The real test comes from long trips across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans where fuel efficiency is most important. Think of Canada as a policy leader, on a smaller scale, but with receipts and a roadmap.
United States: Big, bold and complex
The United States dominates air freight in the Western Hemisphere by sheer volume, making sustainability both a superpower and a headache, depending on who you ask. Major players such as FedEx, UPS, and Amazon Air are experimenting with the Sudanese Air Force, electric ground equipment, and future electric aircraft.
The SAF has thrown a lot of money at this problem, amounting to $1.75 per gallon in SAF tax credits. And it kind of works. Domestic SAF production is increasing, but still represents less than one percent of total jet fuel consumption.
The US’s advantage is size: when it moves the most goods, even small gains in efficiency save huge amounts of carbon. And momentum is building: the SAF’s new production capacity is expected to double between 2024 and 2025. The challenge? This same scale makes change incredibly complex.
Latin America: Abundant Resources, Constant Obstacles
Latin America has extraordinary biodiversity, bold environmental commitments, and a biofuel industry (particularly in Brazil) that is able to harness folic acid from sugar cane and local feedstocks. So what is disruption? Money, infrastructure and economic fluctuations.
Avianca Cargo and LATAM Cargo have launched test flights for the SAF and carbon offset programs. Airport hubs such as Bogotá, Santiago and São Paulo are upgrading ground equipment and seeking environmental assessment certification from the International Air Transport Association.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean is focused on resilience, so when your airports are in hurricane zones, “green” means “can we rebuild sustainably after the next storm?”
Mixed reality
There is no single “Americas” story. Canada has political discipline but to a limited extent. The United States has resources but is amazingly complex. Latin America has raw gold mines but there are gaps in financing.
However, pressures are mounting everywhere. Shipping companies, from fashion to pharmaceuticals, are demanding greener supply chains. Investors are examining environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments. Regulators are tightening emissions targets. Transport companies that break the law of sustainability first will forge long-term partnerships with brands desperate to clean up their supply chains. Meanwhile, airports that can market themselves as low-carbon hubs are already seeing premium customers willing to pay for verifiable green credentials.
Sustainability is more than compliance; It’s a competitive advantage.
What’s next
The Americas will advance on parallel paths. North America will rely on policy and innovation to drive SAF adoption. Latin America can turn its advantage in biofuels into an opportunity when the floodgates of financing open. Collaboration will be key, because sustainability mandates do not cross borders.
Although the Americas write a patchwork story of green air freight; Uneven, sometimes chaotic, but undeniably in motion. Together, they have the opportunity to build a model where sustainability is not a side project, but rather the defined path to long-term growth. The question is not whether air freight will go green or not. It’s whoever gets there first.
