
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.
By selecting a length of flight, the calculator automatically applies the correct equation for emissions in economy class then multiples it by the average price per tonne for the American Airlines portfolio. The system will automatically apply your purchase evenly over all of the projects. When you purchase carbon credits equivalent to your flight emissions, you are offsetting the footprint of your air travel.
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. More than 90% of your donation goes to back to the projects.
At the end of the day, the idea is simple: Do what you can to reduce your daily emissions then offset what remains with high-quality, scientifically verified carbon credits.
Where Does The Money Go?
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.