United Airlines will soon take delivery of a new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

N24988 (msn 37449) is painted in a “The Future is SAF” special livery.

The livery is also part of United’s Eco-Skies Alliance.

The Eco-Skies Alliance program is a first-of-its-kind program involving leading global corporations working with United to foster co-investment support for sustainable aviation fuel by addressing the “green premium,” or price difference between SAF and conventional fuel. Through this innovative program, our corporate customers have the opportunity to help reduce their GHG emissions from travel with United.

See the new aircraft:

United talks about its SAF program:

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is a lower-carbon alternative to normal jet fuel that can be used to fuel existing aircraft without making significant modications to the aircraft and its engines. SAF used by United has up to 85% lower GHG emissions than regular jet fuel when we count all of its emissions, all the way from how it’s made and delivered to the airport, to when we use it (these are called ‘lifecycle emissions’). This does not mean our current use of SAF reduces our carbon footprint by 85%, however. We still have a long way to go to achieve net zero by 2050, as currently only 0.1% of our overall fuel is SAF.

Conventional jet fuel releases new carbon into the atmosphere

1. Extract

Crude oil is extracted from the ground

2. Refine

Crude is refined into jet fuel, a carbon-intensive process

3. Consume

Finished jet fuel is used to fly aircraft

Producing and using SAF can lower the lifecycle emissions compared to regular jet fuel a number of ways, such as by reusing a waste material so the waste doesn’t create more emissions when thrown out, by using a plant-based material that has captured GHGs, or capturing and using some of the CO2 in the air.

Sustainable aviation fuel emits up to 85% less carbon on a lifecycle basis

1. Collect

Renewable or waste materials are collected

2. Convert

Collected materials are converted to fuel with a process using renewable energy if possible

3. Use

Finished SAF is used to power aircraft more sustainably

Using more SAF helps us not only to reach our goal to go net zero by 2050, but also our plan to decrease our carbon intensity by 50% from 2019 to 2035. We were the first airline to use SAF in regular operations on an ongoing basis, and the first U.S. airline to create a sustainability-focused venture fund to invest, in part, in SAF production.


2009
First U.S. airline to test SAF.


2015
First U.S. airline to invest in a SAF company (Fulcrum BioEnergy).


2016
First U.S. airline to use SAF for regularly scheduled flights.


2020
Commitment to 100% Green by 2050.


2021
First passenger flight using 100% SAF in one engine.


2022
First U.S. airline to announce expansion of SAF use at an international airport (AMS).

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