As policymakers, industry execs and journalists head Stateside for the bevy of events taking place in New York this week, it’s hard not to think of the emissions that come with those flights, in-person meetings, and conference banners used just once. 

As I got cosy on my United Airlines flight this weekend, I couldn’t help but wonder about the non-CO2 impacts of my flight. Contrails, or condensation trails, dramatically increase aviation’s near‑term climate impact by trapping heat through the formation of cirrus-like clouds. Persisting contrails are more likely to occur on cold, humid night‑time routes, and especially over the Atlantic. 

Aviation has had a sharp focus on contrail avoidance over the past few months — something I have covered at Skift — and last week Air France announced the results of its own trial from earlier this year. 

Between February and April 2026, Air France successfully tweaked the routes of 130 flights to avoid the creation of contrails — 53% of the 245 flights identified with a high potential climate impact. Some 4,300 commercial flights operating over the North Atlantic were in scope, showing how just a small fraction of flights are responsible for a high percentage of contrails. 

Its key findings explicitly highlighted this concentration: just 3% of flights accounted for 25% of the total climate impact associated with contrails, it said. Meanwhile, the equivalent to 22,000 tons of CO2 was avoided. Of the re-routed flights, there was a 57% reduction in the climate impact of contrails and a 36% reduction in overall climate impact. 

The airline noted that, for this work to be effective at scale, air traffic control needs to be brought into the fold as they ultimately approve changes to flight paths. 

A NATS-supported separate airspace-wide trial is set to take place this winter, known as Operation Blue Skies, which covers the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area.

Check out my full reporting over at Skift, and, as ever, feel free to say hi at [email protected]. 

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