4AIR to partner with Southwest Airlines to document sustainable aviation fuel use

Photo: Southwest Airlines Co.

4AIR, the first and only rating system focused on comprehensive sustainability in aviation, announced Oct. 17 that it will provide sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) inventory accounting and documentation services for Southwest Airlines Co.

In October 2021, the carrier announced a series of near-term goals, actions, and initiatives in support of a 10-year plan to maintain carbon neutrality to 2019 levels while continuing to grow its operations.

This includes a goal of replacing 10 percent of its total jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030.

SAF is a key strategy to address the carbon emissions generated by the aviation industry associated with climate change.

Under the agreement, 4AIR will support Southwest with allocating and documenting certain scope 3 emission-reduction rights arising from Southwest’s use of SAF for corporate clients participating in its SAF Beta Program.

These clients purchase scope 3 emission-reduction rights arising from Southwest’s use of SAF, which contributes to reducing the premium of SAF over conventional jet fuel and helps send demand signals to the market.

“This industry-leading partnership with Southwest Airlines ensures transparency of its SAF emissions accounting for corporate customers,” said Kennedy Ricci, 4AIR’s president. “This step underscores Southwest’s commitment to SAF and the importance of moving the industry forward toward carbon neutrality by 2050.”

Helen Giles, Southwest Airlines’ director of environmental sustainability, added, “We are excited to partner with 4AIR to offer corporate customers participating in our SAF Beta Program with independently verified assurance for the scope 3 emission-reduction rights associated with their support of expanding SAF in our operations. We have processes in place to track emission-reduction rights for our corporate partners in the program, and we are proud to add this additional layer to verify that emission-reduction rights purchased have been correctly accounted for.”

4AIR’s industry-first framework seeks to address climate impacts of all types and provides a simplified and verifiable path for aviation-industry participants to achieve meaningful aircraft-emissions counteraction and reduction.

The 4AIR framework offers four levels, each with specific, science-based goals, independently verified results and progressively greater impacts on sustainability that make it easy for private aviation users to pursue sustainability through access to carbon markets, use of SAF, support for new technologies and other strategies.