Google and American Airlines strike record sustainable aviation fuel deal

Google and American Airlines on June 9 struck the largest publicly announced sustainable aviation fuel certificate agreement yet between an airline and a single corporate customer, a three-year deal covering 35 million gallons, or 132 million liters, of SAF. The agreement is expected to drive nearly 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent reductions and gives American a new demand anchor as it pushes deeper into long-term SAF procurement.

The physical fuel will flow to Chicago O’Hare International Airport through existing infrastructure, while the SAF portion will be made from waste feedstocks such as used cooking oil. Google will take the environmental attributes through the SAFc Registry to cover emissions tied to employee business travel, a structure that lets the company support SAF deployment without taking physical delivery of the fuel itself. That model is becoming more important as buyers look for ways to back lower-carbon aviation fuel at scale while airlines continue to manage constrained supply and higher production costs.

American said the deal also helped it secure a new long-term SAF offtake with Valero Marketing and Supply Company, signaling that the certificate structure can do more than book emissions reductions. It can also help underwrite supply agreements that refiners and fuel suppliers need before committing capital to SAF volumes. For airlines, that kind of demand-side backing helps de-risk a market that still depends on policy support, feedstock availability and premium pricing.

Jill Blickstein, American’s chief sustainability officer, said the partnership was a critical step toward reducing emissions and building a stronger SAF market. Google chief sustainability officer Kate Brandt said long-term commitments send a demand signal that can catalyze investment and bring more SAF to market. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also said the state’s SAF tax credit helped make the agreement possible, underscoring how state incentives are now part of the commercial stack behind corporate SAF purchases.

Illinois’ SAF purchase credit is $1.50 per gallon for qualifying SAF sold to or used by an air common carrier for use in Illinois, in effect from July 1, 2023 through December 31, 2032. Google said the new deal builds on earlier SAF work in Singapore and its support for SAF research and technology, a reminder that non-airline corporate buyers are moving from climate signaling to structured procurement. In a market still short of large-scale supply, those buyers may be the demand-side force that helps turn SAF from a niche product into a repeatable fuel program.