
Together We Can Help Protect Our Planet
Every little bit counts when helping the environment. That’s why American Airlines is proud to partner with the nonprofit Cool Effect to help you offset the carbon emissions of your flight.
When you buy a carbon offset through Cool Effect, you’re supporting high-quality, verified carbon reduction projects that help protect and conserve our planet’s resources. As an airline, we recognize that connecting you with the world has an impact on the environment, and carbon offsetting is one element of our strategy for reducing that impact.
Our purpose is to take care of people on life’s journey each and every day. We also take pride in doing our part to take care of our environment — and we value your commitment to joining our efforts.
Click here to calculate your tonnes.
How is this calculated?
Cool Effect harnessed the EPA’s most recently established emission factor data (2018) and approximated flight lengths from credible online sources. In order to estimate the total metric tonnage of greenhouse gas emissions per flight, Cool Effect chose to combine emissions of carbon dioxide (1:1), methane (25:1) and nitrous oxide (298:1) and adjust for the distinct global warming potential of each gas.
Cool Effect then applied these values over three different flight-length categories: Short, Medium and Long Haul. The purposeful inclusion of methane and nitrous oxide distinguishes this Flight Emissions Calculator from other sources, which often include solely carbon dioxide in their calculations.
Rounded to the nearest 0.01 tonnes, the Cool Effect Flight Emissions Calculator is meant to provide the environmentally-conscious flyer with sound knowledge on which to base each decision to offset.
While the Cool Effect Flight Emissions Calculator is one viable resource, there are many other credible emission calculators out there to explore, such as ICAO’s Flight Calculator, Virgin Atlantic’s Carbon Neutral Calculator, or the TerraPass Carbon Footprint Calculator. Each source will likely result in slightly different emissions estimates due to the host of responsible assumptions that must be made when considering the impacts of air travel.
By selecting a length of flight and purchasing carbon credits equivalent to its estimated emissions, you are helping to compensate for the effect your flight has on the planet. More than 90% of your donation goes to support the 14 projects listed on the Cool Effect platform that reduce or prevent emissions.
At the end of the day, the idea is simple: Do what you can, anything that keeps the planet cooler helps! If your flight length falls between two options, Cool Effect humbly challenges you to round up! Clearly, the planet is heating up and Mother Earth appreciates every tonne that helps to keep her cool!
Where Does The Money Go?
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
In rural Mexico, the community has come together to save the forests and their future by turning forest destruction into forest regeneration.
For Peat's Sake
Reducing over 7.5 mm tonnes of CO₂ each year by protecting and restoring 157,000 hectares of peat swamp and creating local jobs.
Mirador Clean Cookstoves
Working with local families across rural Honduras, building improved cookstoves that use just half the amount of wood of a traditional one. When wood use is cut by nearly half, so are CO₂ emissions.
90%+ Directly to Projects


More than 90% of each dollar you donate goes directly to helping our projects, with a small fee of only 9.87% to help us cover payment processing, research and scientific documentation, and possible registration fees.
Here’s a breakdown:
- 1.5% Research Fee
- 2–4% Payment Processing Fee
- Registry Fee (where applicable)
- Remainder for Cool Effect Administration Fee
Who is Cool Effect?
Cool Effect is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. We work with the world’s best carbon-reducing projects, giving people an easy way to effectively fight climate change. Combining science and pricing transparency, our approach allows individuals to verifiably reduce carbon emissions and help transform communities around the world.