Hawaiian Airlines helping with climate study
Travelers boarding Hawaiian Airlines aircraft on their flights to and from the Hawaiian Islands are now also helping support an innovative research project to measure climate change and air quality worldwide.
Last month, one of Hawaiian’s A330 wide-body aircraft equipped with scientific instruments started monitoring the health of the Earth’s atmosphere while carrying guests on its regularly scheduled transpacific routes. The partnership between Hawaiian and the In-service Aircraft for a Global Monitoring System (IAGOS) – the first of its kind for a U.S. carrier – gives scientists real-time access to pollution levels in vast expanses of the Pacific where air quality samples have been difficult to collect, until now.
“Climate change carries significant consequences, particularly for Hawaii and our Pacific Island neighbors, so we are honored to join this important research project,” said Jon Snook, Hawaiian’s chief operating officer, said in a press release Tuesday. “As we continue to introduce millions of guests each year to Hawaii’s spectacular beauty, it’s gratifying to know our flights are also providing crucial data to the scientific community and meteorological agencies so we can betterunderstand and address weather changes.”