Is climate-neutral aviation even possible, what would it look like, and how do we get there? It is difficult to imagine effective international climate action without making aviation climate-neutral, due to its significant and growing climate impact, and the symbolic value of an activity mostly serving the world’s richest 1% of people using a disproportionate share of society’s resources. Both major aviation organizations, IATA, representing airlines, and ICAO, representing countries, officially endorse the goal of net zero aviation by 2050. Their past and current actions, however, are not supporting reaching the goal. We explore what action is required for this hard to decarbonize but important sector, and model a pathway towards towards true climate neutrality for global aviation.