Story ID: 514
Business Aviation 'Climbing Fast' on Sustainability
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Advocacy campaign to showcase bizav's progress, promise of sustainability
Word Count: 484
The business aviation community has coalesced behind a new campaign—“Climbing Fast”—to highlight the progress and promise it has made toward the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.Unveiled during NBAA-BACE 2023, the Climbing Fast advocacy campaign will be used to educate public opinion leaders and decision-makers on business aviation’s commitment to—and leadership role in—sustainability.The campaign involves dedicated website that will be used as a promotional vehicle, as well as a resource. In addition, plans call for paid digital advertising, a multi-channel social media presence, and a targeted media relations program. And, the campaign was threaded throughout BACE.Climbing Fast builds on the long-time advocacy campaign No Plane No Gain, said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “It has always been kind of a focal point for our industry, a rallying call based on a catchy phrase that was well known…and it has allowed us to talk effectively about who we are and the societal benefits that business aviation offers,” he explained.But industry leaders recognized that in addition to touting societal benefits, “We need to be clear and unequivocal about our commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050,” Bolen said. This comes as the industry has been increasingly targeted by eco-protesters.As such, industry associations collectively have spent several months “understanding how best to present all that we are and all that we're doing, including our commitment to sustainability to a public that may not know, understand, or appreciate business aviation.”Working with an established pollster, “we learned that there are, maybe as you would expect, a lot of people who don't know business aviation [and] don't understand business aviation. When asked about business aviation and sustainability, they don't make a positive connection.”The polling also showed that when presented with facts about what business aviation is doing on sustainability, people began to change their opinion. “We saw there were a significant number of people who were persuaded that business aviation is an essential industry with a commitment to sustainability.”The industry needs to recognize that it can convey what it’s done, what it’s doing, and what its commitment is, he further said. As far as telling this story, he said, several options were examined and focus groups were conducted. That led to Climbing Fast. Climbing, he said, shows forward motion in aviation, and fast represents a significant sense of urgency. The logo is styled with a leaf to represent sustainability and the environment.“Business aviation is the technology incubator for the aviation industry as we lead the way in advancing safety and sustainability,” said Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, another of the associations supporting Climbing Fast. “Our industry supports over 1.2 million total jobs and over $247 billion in total economic output in the United States. When you look at our industry, Climbing Fast truly describes the work we have been doing.”, plain_text