United Airlines
United Airlines appears in The high cost of vacuuming carbon from the sky as one of Heirloom Carbon Technologies’ named customers, alongside Microsoft, Meta, and Shopify. The source uses the customer list to show that corporate demand for Carbon Removal can help finance Direct Air Capture even before the technology reaches low-cost scale.
United’s role in this source is narrow and source-scoped. The episode does not analyze the airline’s broader climate strategy; it treats the company as evidence that hard-to-abate buyers may be willing to pay for removal while the Carbon Removal Cost Curve remains expensive.
Spirit Airlines and the future of cheap flights adds United as one of the legacy carriers whose basic-economy offerings and loyalty advantages helped pressure Spirit Airlines. In this source, United is part of the incumbent-airline set connected to Basic Economy Copycat Strategy and Airline Loyalty Program Moat.
Connections
- Heirloom Carbon Technologies - direct-air-capture supplier named in the episode.
- Microsoft, Meta, and Shopify - other named customers.
- Direct Air Capture, Carbon Removal, and Economic Climate Tech Adoption - climate-procurement context.
- Spirit Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Basic Economy Copycat Strategy, and Airline Loyalty Program Moat - airline-competition branch added by Planet Money.