Our environment
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We believe that protecting our environment is a shared responsibility and we are working across our industry to minimize our impact by addressing CO2 emissions and exploring energy alternatives. As a company, we look across our own operations for new ways to conserve fuel, recycle more materials and produce less regulated waste. Our efforts and planned programs help protect the environment and can improve the company’s financial health and sustainability by reducing costs and emissions.


Our environmental responsibility commitment

We have made a commitment to take meaningful and sustainable actions in a fiscally responsible manner to reduce our impact on the environment. We are committed to:

  • promoting responsible government and industry policies;
  • taking cost-effective measures to improve air quality and generate less waste;
  • enabling key stakeholders to take environmentally responsible actions; and
  • engaging stakeholders and communities in our environmental initiatives.

View our environmental responsibility commitment statement


Industry action

We are partnering with the federal government and other industry stakeholders to develop a comprehensive plan that will help us achieve long-term benefits to our environment. We believe that success will require major advancements in energy and technology and significant government investment in infrastructure and alternative fuel production.
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Nimble maneuvers

As we fly to more than 200 cities around the world every day, our pilots and operations professionals use the latest flight techniques to conserve fuel, reduce noise and keep the air clear and clean by reducing emissions. We believe doing all we can to reduce fuel consumption and emissions is an opportunity to pass on a cleaner environment to future generations.
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On the ground

Working together, our teams of professionals have implemented numerous programs within our operations to conserve jet fuel, reduce energy use and minimize emissions. We promote taxiing with a single engine and the use of tractors rather than aircraft engines to move planes between gates and maintenance facilities. We also connect aircraft to available ground power sources while planes are stationed at the gate. We continue to make investments in replacing eligible ground support equipment with alternatively-fueled or zero-emitting vehicles.
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Going green

In our facilities, we are doing more to minimize waste, promote recycling and employ green design principles. We are collaborating with our catering partners and waste management vendors to expand our recycling programs. As we evaluate and plan our facilities, we look for ways to incorporate green principles into their designs in a cost-effective manner.
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Carbon offset

Our carbon offset program enables our customers to offset the carbon footprints associated with their air travel by making tax-deductible charitable contributions to the nonprofit organization Sustainable Travel International (STI) for the purchase of independently reviewed and verified carbon offsets. Our carbon calculator provides customers with accurate calculations of the carbon footprins specific to their itineraries.
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Metrics

We monitor and measure our performance on key environmental factors including fuel use and combustion, GHG emissions, direct and indirect waste management, etc. Our environmental footprint database enables us to capture and track this data on a recurring basis.
Download metrics


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Environment
responsibility
overview

Additional detail about our environmental initiatives.
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Download
overview
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Carbon Disclosure Project
View United’s responses


U.S. airlines saved 2.5 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions as a result of a 110% improvement in fuel efficiency from 1978 through 2007.


One billion pounds of fuel were saved by United Airlines through fuel conservation initiatives from 2004 through 2008.


We’ve seen a 32% improvement in our fuel efficiency between 1990 and 2008 (gallons per revenue ton mile).


United’s 1,797 alternative-fueled and zero-emitting vehicles represent nearly 25% of our active ground support equipment (GSE) fleet.

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