June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Executives from the world's largest airlines will meet today to respond to the ``growing tide of public pressure'' from travelers worried about the environment. Some carriers felt they couldn't wait to take action.

Last week, Delta Air Lines Inc. became the first U.S. carrier to give passengers the option of paying an extra fee to help offset planes' carbon dioxide emissions, following similar steps by European airlines including British Airways Plc.

The environment is ``one of the biggest challenges facing us right now,'' said Giovanni Bisignani, chief executive officer of the International Air Transport Association. He said he'll devote a third of his keynote speech today at IATA's annual meeting in Vancouver to the environment, including an announcement about a ``vision, a policy and a strategy that may shock you.''

The 260-member trade group is trying to avert a repeat of what Bisignani calls a ``crisis'' in Europe, where politicians are studying new taxes to curb air travel and help pay for mitigating the effect of jet exhaust on the environment.

By 2011, the European Union plans to require airlines to join the region's emissions-trading system that would cap carriers' output of carbon dioxide and other pollutants and force them to buy credits if they went over the limit.

German politicians including Bavaria's environment minister have told travelers in recent months to consider staying closer to home, rather than flying somewhere for vacation.

``We're 2 percent of emissions globally, but probably 80 percent of the press about the issue in Europe,'' said Tony Concil, an IATA spokesman.

`Growing Tide'

Executives will attend meetings through tomorrow in Vancouver to address the ``growing tide of public pressure'' on environmental performance, as the agenda put it. IATA published its first major newspaper ad today, in the International Herald Tribune, explaining how airlines are curbing jets' emissions.

Airlines must ``be more effective in communicating what we're doing,'' Bisignani said in an interview yesterday.

At least 29 carriers including Singapore Airlines Ltd. have put IATA's new ad in on-board magazines, describing how they fly more direct routes; carry fewer items to make planes lighter and use less fuel; invest in newer, more efficient aircraft; and wash planes more often to decrease fuel-burning drag through the air.

Carriers are also encouraging customers to get involved directly through so-called carbon-offset tickets like those introduced June 1 by Delta, the third-largest U.S. airline.

Planting Trees

Travelers who buy those tickets pay an extra fee, with the money going to environmental companies that plant trees or invest in other projects that promise to reduce the greenhouse gases blamed for warming earth's atmosphere.

Air Canada, which began offering the offset option last week as well, estimates fliers have to pay $19.20 to offset their share of emissions on a round-trip Toronto-to-London flight, for example. Continental Airlines Inc. said last week it will offer carbon-offset tickets this year.

Not all carriers embrace the idea.

``It's not something that we're looking at,'' said Beth Harbin, a spokeswoman for low-fare carrier Southwest Airlines Co., which isn't an IATA member. Southwest's environmental focus is on efforts such as ``new navigational systems for more direct routings of flights, recycling, as opposed to shifting that burden to our customers.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Susanna Ray in Vancouver at sray7@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 4, 2007 07:09 EDT