A lot of work goes into our Sustainability Report each year, and we’re not even talking about the data collection and information that took hours upon hours to gather! We’re talking about all the hard work that goes into the results that are featured in the report. We aren’t one to toot our own horn, okay maybe we are, but we are pretty proud of the things that the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority (Airport Authority) employees were able to accomplish in 2021-2022 and it can (mostly) be found in this year’s Sustainability Report. 

So, what is a Sustainability Report you ask? Well, it’s not just about environmental sustainability, although that’s one of the three areas in which we examine, it encompasses San Diego International Airport’s (SAN) relationship to the environment, the traveling public, its stakeholders, and the greater San Diego community.

The Airport Authority’s 2021-2022 Sustainability Report is organized into three sections: Environmental, Social, and Economic.

• The Environmental Sustainability section focuses on ways in which the Airport Authority is achieving carbon neutrality, serving as water stewards, pursuing energy efficiency and innovation, working towards clean, accessible transportation, zero waste, protecting biodiversity, building resilience for future climate conditions, and addressing aircraft noise.
• The Social Sustainability section reviews ways in which the Airport Authority focuses on the customer experience, employee diversity, recruitment, retention, and training, and regional and industry leadership.
• The Economic Sustainability section focuses on ways in which the Airport Authority optimizes facilities, enhances revenue, reduces expenses, drives the regional economy through small business, and plans for the future.

Below are a few of our key accomplishments outlined in this year’s Report:

Environmental Sustainability:

• The airport now runs off 100 percent carbon-free renewable electricity through its subscription to San Diego Community Power, a new Community Choice Aggregator.
• The Airport Authority’s Sustainability Management Program won an “Outstanding Innovation in Resilient or Sustainable Design” award from the Association of Environmental Professionals.
• In 2021, the Quieter Home Program provided sound insulation treatments to 209 homes, including a mixture of single-family and multi-family homes.

Social Sustainability:

• The all-electric San Diego Flyer was launched in November 2021, providing a convenient, free last-mile connection between SAN and the Old Town Transit Center.
• The Airport Authority Board approved and adopted its first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy statement in September 2021.
• The Airport Authority commissioned six groundbreaking public art concepts for the New T1 that explore the themes of flight, travel, play, the natural world, and light.

Economic Sustainability:

• Construction on SAN’s New T1 project, which replaces the current Terminal 1 with a modern and efficient facility that will improve the airport experience, began in November 2021.
• The New T1 project will create an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 construction-related jobs in the San Diego region.
• The Airport Authority completed the largest single bond sale by a California airport and the fifth largest single airport bond sale in the U.S. totaling $1.94 billion. Interest savings compared to the board-approved plan of finance saved almost $400 million.

Take some time to browse the Sustainability Report website, we hope you will be amazed at what SAN is doing for our community, passengers, and employees.