Emma Galarza

Mechanical engineer Emma Galarza spearheads enterprise initiatives that reduce Delta’s fuel consumption while improving operational performance, coordinating with teams across flight operations, customer service and fleet management. 

From 2024-26, she led multiple initiatives for the Delta Carbon Council, made up of leaders from across the airline, focused on flight path optimization, reduction of auxiliary power unit emissions, taxi optimization, gate electrification and airplane payload management. Collectively, the team is expected to deliver approximately 75 million gallons of annual fuel savings by the end of 2026. Galarza piloted Delta’s flight path optimization program this year, which represents a 30 million gallon annual fuel savings opportunity. The effort exceeded its original business case within its first six months due to strong pilot adoption.

Galarza previously led emerging technology programs within Delta TechOps, including efforts to reduce fuel consumption and a drone program for airplane inspections. She served as vice chair for emerging technologies at aviation standards organization SAE and co-founded a startup that developed and patented an assistive technology device.