Hawaii’s largest carrier is jumping on the sustainable aviation fuel bandwagon as Hawaiian Air places a SAF order. However, the deliveries won’t begin any time soon, and the quantity being ordered will satisfy only a fraction of the Airline’s fuel needs.
If you’ve never heard of SAF before, you’ll probably be hearing about it more and more in the near future. Larger airlines like United are making big commitments to the sustainable alternative to Jet-A. And it seems like Hawaiian is no different now. Sort of.
Hawaiian Air Places a SAF Order
The other week, Hawaii’s hometown carrier took a step toward its goal of becoming net zero by 2050 by placing its first SAF order. Specifically, Hawaiian reached an agreement with a company called Gevo, Inc., to purchase 50 million gallons of SAF. Only, the deliveries won’t begin until 2029, and they’ll be spread across five years. Unfortunately, that means Hawaiian will be receiving only 10 million gallons a year, which is only enough to fill an Airbus A330-200 272 times.
What makes this deal even more interesting is that a fuel production plant hasn’t even been built yet. Supposedly, Gevo will build a SAF plant in the Midwest that’ll process residual starch from inedible field corn to produce its fuel. They claim the process will be net-zero carbon because it’ll use renewable electricity and renewable natural gas. Once processed, the fuel will then be delivered for use at Hawaiian’s California gateway cities.
How Hawaiian Compares
Hawaiian will begin using SAF to a limited extent in 2029, while American Airlines and United Airlines are already using SAF daily, and Delta Air Lines will begin using SAF for 10% of its fuel needs by 2030. Alaska Airlines isn’t deploying SAF in a significant way just yet, but its goal is to become carbon neutral by 2040. So while the fact that Hawaiian Air places a SAF order is notable, they’re kind of behind in their efforts.
Hawaiian Places a SAF Order, Final Thoughts
Look, I don’t mean to belittle Hawaiian’s efforts. Something is better than nothing. However, they could be doing more. For example, Alaska Airlines has eliminated most single-use plastics across its fleet, while Hawaiian still uses a ton. Think about it? They fly over 100 flights per day within Hawaii, each of which consumes thousands of single-use plastic juice and water containers.
And then there’s their “sustainable” bottled water from Jason Momoa’s Mananalu.Sure, it comes in recyclable aluminum bottles, but this is non-artesian water that comes from California, Montana, and Nebraska. Yup, Mananalu bottles its water in a draught-stricken state, then has to ship it across the Pacific for Hawaiian to use. Are there more sustainable options out there? You bet. But they aren’t owned by a major celebrity and have a Hawaiian name. Fun fact, Mananalu is headquartered in NORTH CAROLINA. Oh, and it isn’t the standard water on Hawaiian. You have to pay for it.
Want to be more sustainable? Bring your own reusable bottle and fill it at the airport.
So, yeah. Come on, Hawaiian. You guys can do better. That Hawaiian places a SAF order is a good start, but there are other things they can do. They just have to look to their West Coast friend for inspiration.