United Eco-Skies

When flying to Austin, Texas earlier this year (via Houston) for SXSW, we watched this video. It’s part of United’s ‘Big Metal Bird’ series of videos which look inside the airline, and this one was about environmental initiatives and biofuels.

It presents what United is doing in an accessible way that’s not filled with jargon, but also talks about tangible numbers and benefits. It’s a good example for how this kind of information should be presented.

For one thing, United’s video is one of the first we’ve seen from an airline that answers a very basic question - what’s a biofuel?

The video also includes a look at how United recycles unused amenity kits and turns them into hygiene kits for those in need. It manages to do all this in under four minutes.

The micro-site is packed full of information, and when comparing it with KLM’s site, it looks more substantial and real. The one thing we’re not sold on is the name ‘eco skies’ as it seems to make a claim that the airline is green. As we talked about earlier in this edition, that’s not a credible claim for an airline to make.