United Airlines aims to become carbon neutral by 2050 by eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.
A multimillion-dollar investment is being made in revolutionary atmospheric carbon capture technology known as Direct Air Capture – rather than indirect measures like carbon-offsetting.
Direct Air Capture technology can scale to capture millions and potentially billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide a year.
The captured CO2 will then be permanently stored deep underground through a process certified by independent third parties.
The airline is investing in a collective whose mission is to curb the rise in global temperatures by physically removing CO2 from the air using Direct Air Capture technology.
The commitment – the first to be announced in the aviation industry – will help build the first industrial-sized Direct Air Capture plant in the US.
A single plant is expected to capture one million tons of CO2 a year, the equivalent of the work of 40 million trees, but covering a land area about 3,000 times smaller.
This comes on top of continued development and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
United chief executive Scott Kirby said: “As the leader of one of the world’s largest airlines, I recognise our responsibility in contributing to fight climate change, as well as our responsibility to solve it.
“These game-changing technologies will significantly reduce our emissions, and measurably reduce the speed of climate change – because buying carbon offsets alone is just not enough.
“Perhaps most importantly, we’re not just doing it to meet our own sustainability goal; we’re doing it to drive the positive change our entire industry requires so that every airline can eventually join us and do the same.”