United Airlines has unveiled a new partnership with luxury car brand Jaguar, enabling Mileage Plus Premier members with tight connections to benefit from gate-to-gate transfers.

A fleet of electric Jaguar I-Pace HSE vehicles will be on hand to transfer selected Mileage Plus Premier members between their connecting aircraft, in what United says is “the first gate-to-gate airport transfer service powered by an all-electric fleet in the US”.

The initiative has launched at Chicago O’Hare International airport, and will be rolled out to United’s hubs in Denver, Houston, New York Newark, Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles by the end of the year.

The carrier said that the Jaguar SUVs are each expected to make around 60 trips per, transferring more than 1,000 United customers daily.

United referred to the service as “a surprise benefit for select Premier Mileage Plus members with tight connections at the air carrier’s US hub airports”.

Eligible passengers will be greeted by a Premier Services agent who will show them to their vehicle, and accompany them to their connecting flight.

The airline said that the Jaguar vehicles have a charging range of up to 246 miles, and feature Amazon Alexa connectivity and wireless device charging.

Commenting on the news Luc Bondar, United’s marketing and loyalty VP and Mileage Plus President, said:

“The new United-Jaguar ground transfer programme offers travellers a moment of luxury and ease, while also raising sustainability standards for the airline industry.

“United is working to lead with innovation and purpose that motivates the industry to do better for our customers and communities. Partnering with Jaguar to deploy an all-electric fleet is not only a smart business move, as we know customers consider sustainability when booking travel, it is the right thing to do.”

Last month United Airlines announced an investment of $15 million in electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) manufacturer Eve, alongside a conditional purchase agreement for up to 400 aircraft.

United to purchase up to 400 eVTOL aircraft from Eve

The carrier has also taken an equity stake in hydrogen-electric engine developer Zeroavia, and expects to purchase up to 100 of the firm’s zero-emission engines, which could be retrofitted to United Express’ CRJ-550 aircraft as early as 2028.

united.com