ATLANTA, Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) has joined The Climate Registry with successful verification of its greenhouse gas emissions inventories from 2005 through 2010, enhancing its ongoing commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Delta is the first legacy carrier to meet the requirements of the registry.

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"We've made significant strides to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and are pleased to now be a part of an organization that verifies and validates our commitment," said Ken Hylander, Delta's Senior Vice President – Corporate Safety Security & Compliance. "Increased transparency is a significant part of Delta's efforts to build a business model that continually improves sustainability over the long term, which is why we support consistent and transparent standards to calculate, verify and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions."

Delta continues to invest in fuel-savings initiatives such as improving operating procedures, removing unnecessary weight, installing aircraft winglets and retiring inefficient aircraft and replacing them with planes that produce fewer emissions per passenger.  

The airline has lowered its annual absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 7.6 million metric tons since 2005, a 17 percent reduction in six years. Delta also supports greenhouse gas emissions goals of the International Air Transport Association and Airlines for America, including improving average fuel efficiency by 1.5 percent by 2020, stabilizing emissions with carbon neutral growth from 2020 and reducing net emissions by 50 percent by 2050, relative to 2005. Delta has achieved the annual fuel efficiency goal each year since the goal's inception in 2009.

"Climate-Registered organizations understand that there are both environmental and economic benefits to understanding and managing your carbon footprint," said David Rosenheim, Executive Director of The Climate Registry. "Delta has become part of a powerful community of Climate-Registered organizations, with substantive data guiding and supporting its sustainable activities."

The Climate Registry is a non-profit organization that operates the only carbon footprint registry in North America supported by states, provinces, territories and tribes. Registered companies demonstrate environmental leadership by identifying and managing their greenhouse gas risks and opportunities.

To achieve membership, organizations must undergo a rigorous verification of their greenhouse gas inventories by an external Verification Body in accordance with The Climate Registry's General Reporting Protocol. SCS Global Services provided third-party verification for Delta.

"We commend Delta for committing itself to this critical task and joining other corporate leaders pursuing common-sense climate solutions," said Eileen Claussen, President of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. "Measuring and verifying emissions is an essential step in effectively managing them."

Delta last year joined the Center for Climate and Energy Solution's (C2ES) Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC).

For more information on The Climate Registry, please visit www.theclimateregistry.org. For more information about SCS Global Services, please visit www.scsglobalservices.com.

To access Delta's latest Corporate Responsibility Report, please visit www.delta.com/responsibility.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. During the past year, Delta was named domestic "Airline of the Year" by the readers of Travel Weekly magazine, was named the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology, won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey and was the recipient of 12 Executive Travel Magazine Leading Edge Awards for U.S. airlines. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 315 destinations in 59 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $3 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.

SOURCE Delta Air Lines