United Airlines class action claims company makes false, misleading representations about environmental initiatives

United Airlines class action overview: 

• Who: United Airlines is facing a class action lawsuit regarding its claims about its environmental initiatives.
• Why: United Airlines is accused of making false and misleading claims about the environmental benefits of the biofuel that it uses and charging a price premium based upon those claims.
• Where: The United Airlines environmental initiatives class action was filed in federal court in Maryland.

United Airlines is facing a class action lawsuit saying the company makes false and misleading claims regarding the friendliness of its environmental initiatives.

The lawsuit claims the airline uses a biofuel it calls sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and has used marketing such as “eco-skies” on the side of its planes acting as if the airline is environmentally friendly.

Those claims, however, fall short as airlines are some of the worst CO2 producers that have a negative effect on the environment, the class action says.

“If the aviation sector were a nation, it would be among the top 10 CO2 emitters, responsible for 8% of global emissions,” the United Airlines environmental lawsuit says. “Beyond carbon dioxide, aviation emits soot, water vapor, sulfur, and nitrous oxides, which have substantial negative impacts on the upper atmosphere.”

Biofuel claims don’t address fossil fuels used in production, cost of crops, lawsuit says

United markets its fuel as sustainable aviation biofuel but those claims do not include the fact that the continued use of those fuels have a cumulative negative effect on climate change.

The aviation biofuel may have lower CO2 emissions than fossil fuels, but the production of those biofuels and their use result in CO2 and non-CO2 emissions, the lawsuit claims.

The equipment used to grow the biofuel crops uses fossil fuels and leads to land clearing, deforestation, agricultural pollution and competes with food production, the United Airlines environmental lawsuit claims.

“These activities require significant energy usage and cause direct environmental harm,” the United Airlines class action says.

United Airlines agreed to revise how it formats wage statements for California-based pilots as part of a five-year consent decree proposal submitted in late October.  

Have you flown on United Airlines recently? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan and Associates PC.

The United Airlines class action lawsuit is Zajac v. United Airlines Inc., Case No. 8:23-cv-03145-PX, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Southern Division.

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