Consumers Misled by United Airlines’ Overblown Eco-Friendly Initiatives, Class Action Claims [DISMISSED]

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A proposed class action claims United Airlines has misled consumers by overstating its environmentally conscious efforts and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

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The 19-page lawsuit says the airline’s marketing and media presence highlight its eco-friendly initiatives, claiming the company “now [flies] using sustainable aviation fuel” and aims to be “100% green” and “[c]arbon neutral by 2050.” United also advertises its Eco-Skies program on the exterior of its planes and in other marketing materials, the suit relays.

According to the case, these claims about United’s environmental commitments deceive consumers into believing that flying can, in fact, be “100% green” or ecologically friendly. These representations are misleading because the harmful emissions caused by aviation—including carbon dioxide (CO2), soot, sulfur, nitrous oxides and more—have significant adverse effects on the environment, the complaint argues.

“If the aviation sector were a nation, it would be among the top 10 CO2 emitters, responsible for 8% of global emissions,” the filing notes.

Moreover, United’s eco-friendly representations also mislead consumers to believe the airline substantially relies on biofuels such as SAF, rather than fossil fuels, the lawsuit contends. In reality, nearly all the energy United uses is derived from non-renewable fossil fuels, the suit charges.

The case asserts that “out of the four billion gallons of fuel [the airline] uses every year, only one million gallons comes [sic] from biofuels.”

To call the use of biofuels a more “sustainable” alternative to fossil fuels is misleading in its own right, the complaint adds. Though biofuels may result in lower CO2 emissions than fossil fuels, they are hardly eco-friendly, as the production and use of biofuels still result in significant non-CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions, the filing explains.

As the lawsuit tells it, growing crops to produce biofuels such as SAF can result in land clearing, deforestation and agricultural pollution and requires fuel-burning equipment to transport and process the crops once they have been harvested.

“These activities require significant energy usage and cause direct environmental harm,” the suit says.

“As a result of the false and misleading representations and omissions about its environmental initiatives, flights on United cost more than on other airlines, higher than similar airline flights, represented in a non-misleading way, and higher than they would be sold for absent the misleading representations and omissions,” the case alleges.

The lawsuit looks to represent any Maryland residents who purchased flights on United or via United through its codeshare partners relying on its environmental claims within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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