The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the bottom line of the aviation sector, with IATA estimating that airlines will lose $84.3 billion in revenue this year. As flight volumes are likely to be lower than expected into the near-term future, economies of scale within the industry are unlikely to return to their previous level. The way back to profitability for aviation is through improved operational efficiency.

We believe that this creates an opportunity for Signol to help shift the sector onto a lower carbon path. By taking advantage of a pressing need to find efficiencies in operation, we can ensure that these are delivered in a way which reduces emissions.

Signol is a software platform which monitors performance against individual targets, providing personalised and targeted feedback on fuel-use behaviours to nudge airline pilots into greater fuel efficiency, reducing operating costs and carbon emissions. This platform already has the ability to make donations on the behalf of pilots meeting their targets as a form of prosocial motivating tool. In this project, we would investigate the possibility of building an extension to the product allowing for the investment of saved fuel budgets (up to pre-defined limits) in accredited carbon-offsetting schemes as a form of incentive, allowing pilots to observe their performance not only reducing emissions directly, but potentially in creating zero net carbon flights.