Airline Ranking · As of July 16, 2026
American Airlines
Ranked #2 of 32 carriers on what is already operationally available in 2026, not on a 2050 pledge.
Score out of 100
Leading the field · rank 2 of 32 · North America
Why American Airlines lands here
The strongest quantified contrail-avoidance evidence in the set.
This is the highest score in the ranking, and it is still well short of 100. No carrier reaches 80.
What this score is built from
Eight decision areas, weighted by what moves emissions now
Each area is graded against what American Airlines publishes, then scaled by how well that work is evidenced. Contrail avoidance carries the same weight as sustainable aviation fuel, because both are available today.
Where the points are
21.5 of the 100 points are still on the table for American Airlines. The three largest sit here:
6.8
Customer participation, checkout donation, and sustainability access
3.2 of 10 earned
5.0
SAF deployment and market-building
20.0 of 25 earned
2.7
Fleet efficiency and operational decarbonization
9.3 of 12 earned
SAF deployment and market-building
SAF
20.0 / 25
rough grade 4 of 5Aevidence ×1.005.0 points still availableSAF activity is real and material, though the disclosed live scale still trails the very strongest SAF leaders.
Contrail avoidance and non-CO₂ action
Contrails
25.0 / 25
rough grade 5 of 5Aevidence ×1.00American published quantified results from a 2025 operational contrail trial with Google Research, which is the strongest public contrail evidence in this set.
Fleet efficiency and operational decarbonization
Ops
9.3 / 12
rough grade 4 of 5Aevidence ×1.002.7 points still availableFleet renewal and operating-efficiency work are visible and material.
Climate governance and transparency
Governance
8.7 / 10
rough grade 4.5 of 5Aevidence ×1.001.3 points still availablePublic reporting is strong enough to compare targets, governance structure, and climate claims across reporting cycles.
Customer participation, checkout donation, and sustainability access
Customer
3.2 / 10
rough grade 2 of 5Cevidence ×0.806.8 points still availableDirect customer-facing climate participation is weaker than at United, British Airways, Alaska, Finnair, or JetBlue.
Ground operations, waste, and circularity
Ground
3.3 / 6
rough grade 3 of 5Bevidence ×0.902.7 points still availableThere is some evidence of ground or waste action, but the public detail remains limited.
Community and nonprofit investment
Community
3.9 / 6
rough grade 5 of 5Devidence ×0.652.1 points still availableThere is real community activity, but the reporting or scale is moderate.
Climate advocacy and sector collaboration
Advocacy
5.1 / 6
rough grade 4.5 of 5Bevidence ×0.900.9 points still availableThe airline is visibly engaged in sector collaboration, policy work, or broader climate signaling beyond internal operations.
Evidence codes
- A×1.00Current quantified disclosure or clearly documented live program.
- B×0.90Good disclosure with small limits.
- C×0.80Older-cycle, group-level, proxy, or incomplete quantified evidence.
- D×0.65Fragmented or partial proxy evidence.
- E×0.35No credible public evidence; floor only.
Grades are recorded to the nearest half point, so the published pillar score is the authoritative figure and the grade is a rounded description of it. Evidence quality for American Airlines overall is rated high.
How American Airlines compares
Either side in the table
Air France-KLM is one place ahead at 78.5, and Lufthansa Group one place behind at 76.6.
Within North America
Ranked 1 of 7 carriers scored in North America, the highest-scoring carrier in the region.
Who already leads the areas American Airlines is losing most
Customer participation, checkout donation, and sustainability access
IAG earns 9.4 of 10 here. American Airlines earns 3.2.
SAF deployment and market-building
Air France-KLM earns 23.0 of 25 here. American Airlines earns 20.0.
Ground operations, waste, and circularity
LATAM Airlines Group earns 4.2 of 6 here. American Airlines earns 3.3.
If you work at American Airlines
We can tell you which points are cheapest to win
Two of the eight areas, booking-path participation and published uptake, are the ones our own real-money research speaks to directly: a redesigned donation step roughly doubled giving across three carriers, with no cost in brand favorability or booking intent.
Think we have this wrong? If we have missed a published program, send it over and we will re-score and note the change.