Southwest Airlines Community

Southwest Airlines® is proud to announce the launch of a new, innovative option for eligible corporate Customers looking to support sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). SAF is fuel produced from non-fossil fuel sources that can result in lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than conventional jet fuel. Today, SAF is produced in limited volumes and comes at a significant price premium over conventional jet fuel, making it difficult for airlines to incorporate in substantial volumes into their operations. Southwest first announced the SAF Beta Program in October 2021, allowing eligible corporate Customers to support the scaling of the still emerging SAF industry by purchasing the Customer Scope 3 SAF claims (referred below as Customer SAF Claims) associated with the utilization of SAF in Southwest’s operations.   Eligible corporate Customers can now purchase Customer SAF Claims and/or carbon offsets directly within Southwest Business Assist TM from CHOOOSE TM . This new option greatly increases the number of Customers who will now be eligible to make Customer SAF Claims purchases through Southwest!     Customer SAF Claims are the Scope 3 Category 6 (Business Travel) rights associated with Southwest’s utilization of SAF in its operations. The sustainability claim or attribute purchased is separated from the physical flow of the fuel. In part, this is because when blended with conventional jet fuel, SAF is a certified drop-in fuel and is delivered within existing fueling infrastructure. While this helps save on capital investment required for infrastructure and enables airlines to receive deliveries of SAF in the most economically efficient locations, this also makes it difficult to trace the actual SAF molecules to a particular flight. Instead, SAF and their associated environmental attributes are tracked based off of how much neat SAF was purchased and delivered to an airline operator, and corporate Customers can purchase Customer SAF Claims associated with the SAF even if they are in a different place than where the SAF is utilized by Southwest.   The platform allows for the purchase of carbon offsets alongside or independent of Customer SAF Claims, from a selected portfolio of projects including the Delta Blue Carbon mangrove restoration project. Southwest recognizes the impact that credible projects play in avoiding, reducing, or removing carbon as in-sector technologies develop and is excited that the tool allows for customizable self-service purchases based on corporate Customers’ individual priorities, budgets, and strategy.   There is still work to be done for the industry to establish the processes and mechanisms needed for a robust, credible, and transparent SAF Claims market at scale. Southwest is proud to participate in these efforts and offer opportunities for direct transactions with eligible corporate Customers to support Southwest’s use of SAF. ... View more

We’ve steadily increased our focus on environmental sustainability which includes taking a multi-pronged approach with our long- and near-term environmental sustainability goals and targets. In addition to our goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, last October, Southwest Airlines announced our 10-year environmental sustainability plan to maintain carbon neutrality to 2019 levels while continuing to grow our operations each year through 2030 by working on key focus areas, including carbon offsetting!  Carbon offsets are tradeable rights generated from projects that reduce, capture, or avoid a certain amount of carbon emissions, and those rights can be purchased from those projects to offset an equal amount of carbon emissions from activities like flying.   Customers have expressed interest in ways that they can show the planet some love while traveling, and we were happy to launch our carbon offset program as an option! Through this program, Customers can contribute funds to help with the purchase of carbon offsets for Southwest at Southwest.com/wannaoffsetcarbon, and for every dollar a Customer contributes toward offsetting Southwest’s carbon emissions 1 , Southwest will match the contribution 2 . Our program also provides Customers the opportunity to earn 10 Rapid Rewards bonus points 2 per dollar contributed to help Southwest® offset its carbon emissions 1 , up to a maximum of 500 Rapid Rewards bonus points per month 2 .   To celebrate one year of our carbon offset program, starting Oct. 14, we are launching our Take off. Give back. Promotion. Between Oct. 14 and Oct. 30, Southwest Customers now have the opportunity to contribute to help us offset our carbon emissions and earn even more Rapid Rewards bonus points!   Promotion details: By visiting southwest.com/wannaoffsetcarbon Members can earn 20 Rapid Rewards bonus points 3 per dollar contributed toward helping us offset our carbon emissions 1 up to a maximum of 500 Rapid Rewards bonus points per month 3 . For every dollar Customers contribute, Southwest will increase its typical one dollar contribution by pitching in two dollars 3 .   We are also proud to share that we have purchased offsets equivalent to the carbon emissions generated by our Employee business 4 and Charitable 5 travel for 2021 through a donation to Carbonfund, a non-profit that provides carbon offsetting and greenhouse gas reduction options to individuals, businesses, and organizations. We also plan to purchase offsets equivalent to the carbon emissions from those categories generated throughout 2022. The funds used to purchase the 2021 offsets came from the Southwest Airlines Foundation, a corporate advised fund facilitated by Silicon Valley Community Foundation.      1 Carbon emissions for flight activity are estimated using several factors such as aircraft type, conventional jet fuel consumption, flight distance, and assumed load factor. Emission estimates are based on the fleet wide distance-weighted average performance of Southwest’s flights from the Second Quarter of 2022. Southwest’s emissions estimates do not quantify the potential climate change impact of non-carbon emissions resulting from a flight. Actual carbon emissions may vary from estimates. All offsets will be retired in the name of Southwest Airlines Co.   2 Taxes and fees (except for the processing fee) will not be matched by Southwest or earn points. Rapid Rewards® Members can earn 10 Rapid Rewards bonus points per dollar contributed towards the purchase of offsets for Southwest up to a maximum of 500 Rapid Rewards bonus points per month. Points will only be awarded to the Member’s Rapid Rewards account number entered at the time of the carbon offset transaction. All offsets will be retired in the name of Southwest Airlines Co. Terms and conditions apply.   3 Taxes and fees (except for the processing fee) will not be matched by Southwest® or earn points. From October 14 through October 31, 2022 (the “Promotional Period”), Rapid Rewards® Members can earn 20 Rapid Rewards bonus points per dollar contributed towards the purchase of offsets for Southwest up to a maximum of 500 Rapid Rewards bonus points per month. Points will only be awarded to the Member’s Rapid Rewards account number entered at the time of the carbon offset transaction. Terms and conditions apply.   4 Company Non-Revenue Must Ride (NRMR) flights, inclusive of all frontline and headquarters employees’ work-related travel, including deadheading Employees. This excludes flights flown on other airlines.   5 E-passes donated to national and local charitable partners and programs.   ... View more