American Airlines
Latest Sustainability Reporting
Highlights
Overarching Strategy
- 3% reduction in GHG emissions intensity since 2019.
- 54% reduction in Scope 2 emissions since 2019.
- 9.8% improvement in fuel efficiency compared with 2013, avoiding nearly 22.9 million metric tons of CO2e.
- 25,000 tons of CO2 avoided through use of renewable fuels.
Flight Operations and Efficiency
- Used 13.5 million fewer gallons of jet fuel for mainline aircraft in our fleet as of 2019 that continued to be flown through 2023.
- Expanded Smart Gating technology, projected to save 1.4 million gallons of fuel and 13,400 metric tons of CO2e emissions annually, by reducing fuel use and associated GHG emissions through reduced gate conflicts, taxi times and airport congestion.
Next-generation Aircraft
- Entered into a memorandum of understanding with Embraer to help develop the Energia concept aircraft, which aims to use electric, hydrogen and hybrid propulsion technologies to advance next-generation, zero-emissions aircraft.
- Continued our partnership with ZeroAvia, via strategic investments announced in 2022 and 2024, to help advance hydrogen-powered flight technologies.
- Placed a conditional order for ZeroAvia hydrogen retrofits of 65-seat regional jets in 2024.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
- Used nearly 2.7 million gallons of SAF on our flights in 2023, representing less than 0.1% of our fuel use.
- Entered into an innovative, firm offtake agreement for Infinium Powerto-Liquids (PtL) eSAF, helping unlock financing for the PtL facility.
Carbon Market
- Signed a carbon removal purchase agreement with Graphyte, becoming the inaugural customer of the carbon removal startup
Recent News
2024
Joined the CEF member network in December 2024!
2023
Contrail Avoidance Study (Google Research, American Airlines, and Breakthrough Energy) — This research effort brought together satellite imagery, weather, and flight path data and used AI to develop contrail forecast maps to test whether pilots can choose routes that avoid creating contrails. Over six months, pilots flew 70 test flights using AI-based predictions and contrail models to avoid altitudes likely to create contrails. Analysis found pilots were able to reduce contrails by 54%, providing “the first proof point that commercial flights can verifiably avoid contrails and thereby reduce their climate impact.” This came at the cost of a 2% increase in fuel usage, however, as a small percentage of flights need to be adjusted to avoid the majority of contrail warming, this could be brought down to as low as 0.3% across an airline’s flights (costing about $5-25/ton of CO2 equivalent). (Aug 2023)
2022
AMERICAN AIRLINES — Announced its strategic equity investment in Universal Hydrogen, a company building a green hydrogen distribution and logistics network for aviation. This network uses “modular hydrogen capsules” that are handled like cargo, eliminating the need for airports to invest in new fueling infrastructure and speeding up the fueling process. Universal aims to start hydrogen deliveries for regional aircraft by 2025. (Oct 2022)
AMERICAN AIRLINES — Announced an investment in ZeroAvia, a company developing zero-emission hydrogen-electric jet powertrains. The companies also signed an MOU granting American the opportunity to purchase up to 100 powertrains to power its regional jet operations. (Aug 2022)
AMERICAN AIRLINES — Announced it has made an investment (amount not made public) in ZeroAvia, a company specializing in the development zero-emission aircraft powertrains. American and ZeroAvia have also signed a memorandum of understanding giving American the option to buy up to 100 of ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engines, the first of which are planned to enter service in regional flights “as early as the late 2020s.” (Aug 2022)
AMERICAN AIRLINES / GEVO — Announced an agreement in which the airline will purchase 500 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from biofuel company Gevo over five years. The agreement is American Airlines’ largest yet, bringing its total low-carbon fuel commitments to more than 620 million gallons—about 20% of the company’s goal of 10% SAF usage by 2030. Delivery of the fuel is expected to begin in 2026. (Aug 2021)
AMERICAN AIRLINES / NESTE — Completed the first commercial delivery of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) certified to meet the Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) standards. American Airlines took possession of the fuel, produced by Neste, as part of a pilot project establish the certification process for production and delivery of SAF under CORSIA. Neste-produced SAF is made from sustainably sourced, 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials. It can be used as a drop-in replacement for traditional jet fuel, but emitting up to 80% less greenhouse gas over its life cycle. (July 2022)
2020
Mastercard launched the Priceless Planet Coalition, a platform to “unite corporate sustainability efforts and make meaningful investments to preserve the environment.” As part of the platform, the company and its nine partner organizations — including Citibank, L.L. Bean, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and American Airlines — have pledged to plant 100 million trees in 5 years. (Jan 2020)