Alaska Airlines and Shell Aviation Collaborate on Sustainable Aviation Fuel Strategy

Alaska Airlines and Shell Aviation team up to expand sustainable aviation fuel market

Alaska Airlines and Shell Aviation have partnered to expand the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market beyond a standard fuel supply agreement. The companies will work together to define and tackle what it will take to advance SAF technology, development, infrastructure and investment. The aim of this partnership is to enable supply to the West Coast and alleviate fuelling infrastructure challenges in the Pacific Northwest. Shell Aviation will also supply up to 10 million gallons of neat SAF to Alaska Airlines at their hub in Los Angeles.

Commitments to deepen understanding of SAF technology and infrastructure

As part of the agreement, the companies will deepen their understanding of SAF technology, infrastructure, carbon accounting systems, and public policy support needed to bring SAF to more markets, in greater quantities and at a more sustainable long-term cost. The companies will focus on developing strategies to grow availability and commercial viability of SAF while concurrently addressing cost and volume.

Alaska Airlines' net-zero target and role of SAF

Alaska Airlines has set a net-zero target by 2040 and has been pioneering SAF technologies for more than a decade. The company shares an ambition with Shell Aviation to help scale the SAF market to make lower lifecycle carbon SAF more widely available for the future. Diana Birkett Rakow, senior vice president for public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airlines, stated that SAF represents the greatest near-term opportunity to make a step-level change on the journey to net-zero.

Deep level of collaboration

Shell Aviation and Alaska Airlines plan to collaborate deeply to build a sustainable future for aviation. The partnership will help put the technologies and supply chain in place to advance the industry. Ann Ardizzone, vice president of strategic sourcing and supply chain management at Alaska Airlines, stated that by leveraging the fuel infrastructure expertise of a major fuel producer, they can advance SAF access in more markets, accelerating the market scale of SAF to reach their environmental goals.

Jan Toschka, president of Shell Aviation, said: "We need support from the entire ecosystem to build a sustainable future for aviation. This deep level of collaboration will help us put the technologies and supply chain in place to advance the industry."

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