Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and how it is being made available, how you can save on airline tickets, an F-35 shoots down a drone, and the eighth anniversary of the loss of flight MH370.

Richard Thacker is the Director of Strategy and Operations at Atlantic Aviation. Rich has been with Atlantic for more than 30 years and has been a leading voice for the company, and broadly in the aviation industry on increasing sustainability through education and outreach.

Atlantic operates one of the largest FBO networks in the U.S. and they provide a full suite of services to the private aviation sector. We asked Rich to come on the show and talk about sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) because Atlantic is making it available at some airports.

SAF is jet fuel and no change is required to the aircraft or ground support infrastructure. It can be freely co-mingled with JET-A. Rich explains why now is the time for sustainable aviation fuel. We look at sources, availability, and the cost of SAF.

There are two main producers of SAF at this time: Neste and World Energy. Most SAF comes from Neste, a supplier of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, through Avfuel. (See Neste’s role in sustainable aviation and Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Now Offering Neste MY SAF). World Fuel Services gets SAF through an agreement with World Energy.

Atlantic is providing SAF at its Aspen and Los Angeles locations but has plans for wider distribution. Rich notes that since SAF availability is primarily on the coast, road transportation is required to reach inland airports. For its Aspen facility, Atlantic uses renewable diesel in the tanker trucks since burning fossil fuel to deliver sustainable aviation fuel wouldn’t make sense.

Rich explains the “Book and Claim” process for purchasing fuel where SAF isn’t available. “Green credits” are purchased equal to the SAF premium and the SAF is consumed where it is available.

Atlantic is taking other measures to reduce carbon footprint, including switching to LED lighting and electrifying ground support equipment. For more on the classification of emissions, see the article What are scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions?

Brian Coleman interviewed Scott Keyes, the founder and chief flight expert from Scott’s Cheap Flights, a service that notifies subscribers about great airline deals from their home airport. We learn how a hobby turned into a business and Scott provides some good context for the current state of airline fares. Free and paid membership options are available.

Scott’s Cheap Flights serves nearly 2 million members and has a distributed team of more than fifty travel aficionados. Scott authored a bestselling book divulging some of the secrets used to find amazing deals for members, Take More Vacations: How to Search Better, Book Better Cheaper, and Travel the World.

Through April 30, 2022, Scott is offering Airplane Geeks listeners a 25% discount on a Premium membership. Use the discount code GEEKS.

Eyal relates that an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman released an announcement on March 1, 2022, about a shootdown of two Iranian UAVs in June 2021 carrying weapons destined for HAMAS. The interception and shootdown had been made by an Israeli F-35A, the first operational and actual kill for the F-35 family worldwide.

Rob Coates marks the eighth anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH 370. As of this date, the plane has still not been located.

Airplane Geeks listeners can enjoy a one-year individual membership at a 50% discount. For $25.00 (normally $50.00) you get:

The offer is good through May 31, 2022, at this link.

Max Flight, Rob Mark, Max Trescott, and Brian Coleman, with contributions from Eyal Shay and Rob Coates.