United Airlines was praised by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker for using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Chicago O’Hare Airport in a video shot to coincide with the Democratic National Convention.
United Airlines promotes SAF to Illinois Governor during 2024 Democratic National Convention
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is chemically identical to regular jet fuel but is made from renewable materials instead of fossil fuels. According to United, SAF can reduce carbon emissions (on a lifecycle basis) by up to 85% compared to regular jet fuel.
United was an early pioneer in using SAF in its fleet, although high production costs made it financially unviable compared to traditional fuel. However, United recently brought SAF to O’Hare thanks to Illinois state SAF tax credits that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law in 2023 – the first law of its kind in the Midwest.
United tells Live and let us fly This success is being celebrated this week at the Democratic Party Convention:
With stakeholders from across the country attending the Democratic National Convention, we at United thought this would be a good time to recognize Illinois’ leadership on SAF policy and encourage other states to follow suit. That’s why we’ll be sharing a special video from Governor Pritzker with passengers departing from O’Hare throughout the week via our SMS and email customer communications channels.
This video will be shared with passengers arriving and departing from ORD this week:
Greenwashing?
Although SAF could theoretically be a cleaner alternative to traditional jet fuel, United admits that SAF accounts for less than 0.1% of United’s total fuel consumption:
Based on publicly available information on Chicago airline SAF purchases. SAF represents less than 0.1% of United’s total fuel consumption. SAF must be blended with conventional fuel as required by law. Using blended SAF results in lower carbon emissions on a lifecycle basis than conventional fuel alone.
In short: we are still a long way from a substantial use of SAF …
