Delta Expands SAF Access through Multi-Airport Collaboration with Shell Aviation

(Delta Air Lines) Delta plans to scale its use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) across multiple U.S. hubs and priority cities with a five-year agreement with Shell Aviation set through 2030. The collaboration goes beyond conventional jet fuel supply and helps build the infrastructure, delivery, blending and logistics needed to help make SAF part of everyday flying.

Delta Air Lines is scaling SAF through a multi-airport collaboration supported by Shell Aviation that aims to expand SAF availability and adoption. Together, the two companies will expand SAF availability across key U.S. hubs and priority cities — including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Portland International Airport (PDX), John. F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Logan International Airport (BOS) and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) — while building the infrastructure needed to support long term, reliable supply. The collaboration comes at a critical time for fuel diversification and supply resilience.

Under the five-year agreement, Delta plans to expand the supply of SAF through 2030, building on decades of collaboration on conventional jet fuel with Shell. The agreement builds on existing SAF initiatives between the two companies and is designed to support consistent fuel delivery — an essential step toward integrating SAF into routine airline operations, not a one-off milestone.

“Current instability and uncertainty have made one thing very clear to consumers and businesses alike — supply diversity matters. With Shell, we’re proving that scaling SAF isn’t theoretical, it’s achievable,” said Amelia DeLuca, Delta's Chief Sustainability Officer. “This is about activating real supply chains at scale and creating a model that others can build on as we work across the industry to expand lower impact travel.”

Beyond expanding access to SAF, the collaboration focuses on how fuel reaches aircraft. Shell will support both blended and neat SAF deliveries at select hubs and priority cities, helping establish the logistics, blending and distribution capabilities required for dependable supply across Delta’s network. That infrastructure-first approach helps ensure SAF can scale with demand while maintaining operational reliability.

“This collaboration delivers on today’s fuel needs and tomorrow’s aviation solutions. By supplying conventional jet, SAF and longer-term innovation, the deal will help strengthen energy security and contribute to the transformation of aviation,” said Reema Bari, Head of Aviation Americas at Shell.

Our multi-airport and innovative approach looks ahead to the future of sustainable aviation. Delta and Shell will work together to evaluate and advance next generation SAF technologies — including alcohol to jet and power to liquid pathways — aimed at unlocking additional supply and further reducing lifecycle emissions over time.

About Delta’s SAF Journey

This strategic offtake builds on Delta’s broader SAF momentum, including its role as an anchor partner of the first-of-its-kind coalition, the Minnesota SAF Hub, with a commitment to implement an ambitious shared strategy for aggressively decarbonizing the airline industry by scaling SAF production and replacing conventional jet fuel. In 2024, for the first time in Minneapolis and Michigan’s aviation history, two 7,000+-gallon shipments of SAF arrived at both MSP and Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW).

Delta’s work to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 while delivering a more sustainable future of travel focuses on what we fly, how we fly and the fuel we use. With around 90% of Delta’s carbon emissions coming from jet fuel, SAF is the best and fastest known way to reduce carbon emissions in the near term on our journey to net-zero emissions by 2050.

These partnerships and commitments demonstrate what collaboration across the entire SAF value chain makes possible — meaningful progress toward a more sustainable future for not just Delta, but the entire aviation industry. READ MORE

Excerpt from Shell/Financial Times: In 2024, Shell collaborated with Montana Renewables, a company which converts renewable feedstocks into alternative fuels. Together they produced SAF from winter camelina, providing a supply which Delta could access. The SAF was then blended by Shell and supplied into Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minnesota.

DeLuca (Amelia DeLuca, Delta’s Chief Sustainability Officer) recalls asking Shell at the time: “We have access to these camelina seeds, can you help us? Can we get it crushed, can we get it turned into jet fuel?” The question was practical, not rhetorical. It demanded supply-chain choreography across farming, crush facilities, refining, blending, quality assurance and airport fuel systems.

More widely, Shell is also innovating with Avelia, a book and claim platform launched in 2022, with the aim of scaling SAF and providing wider access to the GHG (greenhouse gas) benefits of SAF across the aviation value chain. “Book and claim is an important enabler,” says Bari. “It allows those who are interested in financially supporting SAF development to do so, even if physical accessibility of SAF is limited.”

Both companies know the challenges ahead are huge – but so too are the opportunities. SAF is expensive and scarce. Infrastructure needs upgrading. Policy must keep pace. But Shell and Delta are working together to help find solutions and allow relevant expertise to be shared. “There are no simple answers, but Shell has innovated with aviators for over 100 years, and we’ve overcome challenges before,” says Bari. “When we look back at this period in aviation history, this could be another such moment.” READ MORE