United adds Embraer and other partners to SAF program

United Airlines has added several corporate partners to its sustainability investment program, the United Airlines Sustainable Flight Fund, which aims to reduce emissions and drive production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through investments in startups. The new corporate partners include Aircastle, Air New Zealand, Embraer, Google, HIS, Natixis CIB, Safran, and Technip Energies. The partners make up various elements of the aviation supply chain and have committed $200 million. ""SAF is the best tool we have to decarbonize airplanes, but we don't have enough of it,"" said United Airlines Ventures managing director Andrew Chang. He added: ""We recruited a group of partners with the industry expertise to support our startups with both financial and strategic capital, to help them navigate the entire process from conception to commercialisation."" ""In a joint collaborative effort with our partners, we can accelerate large-scale SAF production as the aviation industry progresses toward the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050,"" said Embraer head of corporate innovation Leonardo Garnica. Natixis CIB managing director and head of aviation Americas Yevgeniya Levitin added: ""SAF has emerged as the most effective large-scale solution for decarbonising aviation industry, and the demand for it, fuelled by net zero objectives and strong traffic growth, outstrips supply by a huge factor."" The fund began in February 2023. United customers can also contribute a small amount to the fund upon checkout. The amount raised by customers has reached nearly $500,000 since the fund's inception.