Dive Brief:
- FedEx deployed blended sustainable aviation fuel at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport last year, expanding its use of SAF to five airports in 2025, according to a Jan. 29 press release.
- As part of a deal FedEx made with World Fuel Services, the fuel supplier will provide 2 million gallons of SAF at the two airports, according to the release.
- The agreement with World Fuel Services will bring FedEx’s total purchases of SAF to the equivalent of 5 million gallons of unblended fuel to date. After first deploying SAF at Los Angeles International Airport last May, FedEx announced expansions to Chicago O’Hare and Miami airports in November.
Dive Insight:
FedEx has a goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2040, and because the company “owns a significant portion” of its transportation assets, the shipping company’s scope 1 emissions are the largest portion of its carbon footprint, according to a page on its sustainability targets.
About 80% of FedEx’s scope 1 emissions are from jet fuel use, and the company aims to purchase 30% of its jet fuel from alternative sources by 2030. The shipping and logistics company also aims to reduce its aircraft emissions intensity 40% by 2040, compared to a 2005 baseline, according to its sustainability page.
FedEx Chief Sustainability Officer Karen Blanks Ellis said the expansion to DFW and JFK airports “caps off a successful year of SAF deployments coast-to-coast.”
“While we know there remains work ahead to procure more SAF and to continue to educate our stakeholders about how alternative fuels fit into our overall aviation sustainability strategy, we are proud of our steps forward in 2025,” Blanks Ellis said in the release.
World Fuel Services will deliver the fuel as a blend containing at least 30% SAF. When FedEx received its first deliveries to DFW Airport in December, it became “the first airline — cargo or passenger — to begin purchasing SAF at that airport outside of a pilot project,” according to publicly available information.
This represents the third announced expansion of FedEx’s SAF use at major U.S. airports. FedEx’s LAX deployment is built on a SAF purchasing agreement with SAF and renewable diesel producer Neste for 3 million blended gallons of fuel. FedEx purchased 1 million gallons of SAF from British fuel supplier Air bp for its Chicago O’Hare deployment and 3 million gallons of SAF from aviation fuel company AEG Fuels for the Miami deployment.
Robert Horton, VP of environmental affairs and sustainability for DFW airport, said in the release that FedEx’s SAF purchase shows “how airlines, airports, and fuel providers work together within existing airport infrastructure to support the development of more sustainable aviation operations.”
Sustainable aviation fuels made up just 0.6% of global jet fuel consumption in 2025, according to the International Air Transport Association. IATA also reported that — despite SAF output nearly doubling in 2025 — production is expected to slow this year, and its use is only expected to make up 0.8% of global jet fuel use this year.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh blamed “poorly designed” SAF mandates in the European Union and United Kingdom, in part, for the slowed growth.
“If the objective is to increase SAF production to further the decarbonization of aviation, then they need to learn from failure and work with the airline industry to design incentives that will work,” Walsh said in December.
FedEx’s Blanks Ellis, who also serves as vice president of environmental affairs, warned that policy focused on air carriers and SAF demand risks “not concurrently building up the actual alternative fuel supply needed to comply and make progress on emissions reduction goals.”
“To meet the industry’s demand for SAF — both mandated and voluntary — concerted support and encouragement for increased SAF production must be part of the policy framework,” Blanks Ellis said.
