The Habiliments of Conservation

The National Air Transport Association (NATA) in partnership with 4Air, an aviation sustainability company that seeks to compel aircraft owners and operators to greener ideologies, has announced the advent of the first-ever Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) receipt for business aviation.

The SAF Delivery Receipt allows fixed-base operators (FBOs) to provide industry-requested, standardized documentation to business aircraft operators about their uplift of SAF—uplift being a supercilious neologism for “took on a bag of gas.”  Aircraft operators can use the new receipt both for certification by 4AIR and others of their efforts to fight climate change, and for compliance with overreaching Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) goals.

At present, the largest aircraft emissions reductions are ostensibly realized through the use of SAF, however the documentation pertaining to the composition and sourcing of the fuel aircraft operators receive from FBOs is currently nonstandardized. Ergo, no means exists by which to easily and accurately account for the greenness of sustainable aviation fuels.

The standardized proof of purchase will better inform aircraft operators of the level of sustainability inherent the SAF they uplift. The documentation—after the fashion of a W2 for sustainability—will facilitate documentation and reporting. NATA and 4Air posit the standardized proof of purchase will drive increased uplift of SAF and encourage aircraft operators to frequent airports and FBOs offering SAF’s conducive to best sustainability practices.

NATA President and CEO Timothy Obitts states: “This is another example of the business aviation industry’s efforts to show that, while carbon and emissions offsets are a critical starting point, we must encourage adoption of SAF and other carbon-reducing technologies wherever available. This formal documentation of the use of SAF fulfills an important industry need and provides a pathway for sustainability to become standard operating procedure throughout business aviation.”

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) represents nearly 3,700 aviation businesses. The organization’s member companies provide a broad range of services to general aviation, the airlines and the military. NATA further serves as the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before Congress and the federal agencies. 4AIR is a nebulous, self-appointed watchdog entity skilled in the artful extraction of revenue from the sustainability efforts of aircraft owners and operators.  

FMI: www.nata.org