United Airlines leads the way with groundbreaking $100m SAF initiative
United Airlines has introduced a fresh investment fund that centers on exploring, developing, and creating sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Known as United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund, the project is kickstarting with over $100 million of funding from GE Aerospace, Honeywell, JPMorgan Chase, United, and Air Canada. The new Sustainable Flight Fund collection will include previous SAF and relevant technology investments, as well as pre-signed purchase agreements by United. In a statement, the airline revealed that firms could donate to the fund, which would potentially provide them with access to United’s SAF supply’s environmental qualities.
United is also inviting customers booking travel either from or within the US to add to the sustainable fuel fund by paying $1, $3.50, or $7. The default option, which customers can choose before check-out, is $3.50. The airline has highlighted that solving climate change is doable but requires strenuous efforts and genuine leadership. The new fund, according to CEO Scott Kirby, is unique because it doesn’t solely focus on offsets or other misleading claims but instead motivates investments to develop a new sustainable aviation fuel industry. The company believes this is the only way to decarbonize aviation effectively.
United has estimated that if the 152 million individuals who traveled with the company in 2022 each gave $3.50 to the Sustainable Flight Fund, the funding would be sufficient to establish a SAF refinery that could produce as much as 40 million gallons of fuel annually. In addition, the airline has also started to display an estimate of each flight’s carbon footprint to potential passengers who are searching for flights. By featuring green shading on the display, United will indicate flights with a lower carbon impact on an economy-seat per-passenger basis for a particular itinerary. It is important to note that these carbon footprint estimates are calculated based on aircraft type, flying time, seat capacity, the number of passengers, and the quantity of cargo on a particular flight, and might differ from actual emissions.
