Travel Advisor Advocacy Group Awards Delta Air Lines with Inaugural ‘Green Partner in Travel Award’

The prestigious honor is voted upon by the Board of Directors at the American Society of Travel Advisors, looking at a list of criteria including a path to zero emissions, community impact and more.

Atlanta, G.A., October 26, 2022 — The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) is proud to announce Delta Air Lines as the inaugural ‘Green Partner in Travel Award’ winner, presented at the 2022 Premium Business Summit held at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, GA, October 24-26.

Delta was selected for this prestigious honor by ASTA’s Board of Directors, made up of leaders from the travel industry around the country.

Second place was awarded to The Travel Corporation with Virgin Voyages taking third place.

“The ASTA board is uniformly committed to inspiring our industry towards a sustainable future,” said Marc Casto, President of Flight Centre Travel Group and Chair of the ASTA Board of Directors. “The criteria for the Green Partner in Travel Award is robust, and for good reason. We recognize that evolving our businesses is essential for the future of our trade.”

The advisor community is committed to elevating partner brands that incorporate sustainability in everyday business and celebrate brands that go above and beyond. This inaugural award was the vote from the entirety of the ASTA Board after reviewing submissions from all applicants.

“In addition to a detailed evaluation matrix, underpinning our analysis was a focus on what substantive and real changes companies had made, not promises for a far-off future,” said Casto. “We salute Delta Air Lines as the first recipient of our Green Partner in Travel Award, as well as any company striving to make our industry more sustainable.”

Candidates are self-nominated for the ‘Green Partner in Travel Award’ based on the following criteria:

Path to Net Zero: The partner company's commitment to science-based targets and a path to Net Zero by 2030 (e.g., a B Impact Assessment, GRI Assessment, etc.)
Carbon Reduction: Confirmation of the amount of carbon reduced over the last year by the partner company
Community Impact: The number of projects and/or jobs developed in local or at-risk communities
Resource Use: Examples of how various resources utilized by the company are used in a sustainable manner
Over-Consumption and Waste: Trending data specific to the company showing the reduction of overconsumption and/or waste

Corporate Planning: Examples of any methods used to integrate sustainable tourism into the company's planning
Environmental Metrics: Examples may include data showing how the company has reduced electricity usage, changed its fuel consumption, carbon emissions reductions, gallons of water saved, increased waste diversion, etc.
Social Metrics: Employee and traveler health & well-being measures, diversity & inclusion goals, supply chain management, etc.
Governance Metrics: Examples of existing policies specifically pertaining to sustainability in any pillar on a wide range of issues such as company values, business resilience plans, etc.

“Decarbonizing the airline industry will take all of us doing more than our part by taking measurable short-, medium-, and long-term actions, sharing knowledge and making sustainability a key consideration across every business decision,” said Pam Fletcher, Delta's Chief Sustainability Officer. “Delta is proud to lead the way on behalf of our employees, customers and communities, and we're humbled by ASTA's recognition”.

Delta scored highly based on initiatives to make their fleet 25 percent more fuel efficient while moving toward alternative fuel sources, as well as electrifying their ground fleet by 50 percent over the next three years. Delta is also eliminating 4.9 million pounds of single-use plastics this year alone.

This is the first time that the ASTA Board of Directors voted on the recipient of an award. Chairman Marc Castro is also creating a path and inspiring the advisor community to be carbon neutral by year 2030.

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Photo Downloads of award recipients (Password: GreenPartner2022)

Captioned: Matthew Kutches (Right), General Manager-Agency Sales, Delta Air Lines accepted the Green Partner in Travel Award for Delta from Marc Casto (Left), President, Flight Center Travel Group & Chair of the Board at the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA).

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ABOUT ASTA
Rebranded in 2018 as the American Society of Travel Advisors, ASTA is the leading global advocate for travel advisors, the travel industry and the traveling public. Its members represent 80 percent of all travel sold in the United States through the travel agency distribution channel. Together with hundreds of internationally-based members, ASTA’s history of industry advocacy traces back to its founding in 1931 when it launched with the mission to facilitate the business of selling travel through effective representation, shared knowledge and the enhancement of professionalism. For more information about the Society, visit our mission statement.

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Travel Advisor Advocacy Group Awards Delta Air Lines with Inaugural ‘Green Partner in Travel Award’