Will Vegan Creamers Take Off at Southwest Airlines Following a Push From PETA?

For Immediate Release:
May 16, 2023

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

At Southwest Airlines’ annual meeting tomorrow, PETA members will urge leadership to start stocking in-flight vegan coffee creamers, noting the public’s skyrocketing demand for eco- and animal-friendly dairy-free drink options. In the archaic dairy industry, calves are torn away from their beloved mothers so that the milk they produce for the calves can be sold for human use, and cow emissions are the primary source of the greenhouse gas methane, which is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere.

“Southwest Airlines has its head in the clouds if it doesn’t see the benefits of offering vegan creamer to its flyers, many of whom care about animals and the planet or who may simply be lactose intolerant,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is encouraging the airline to make this simple menu addition part of the ‘The Southwest Way.’”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA members’ shareholder questions follow.

My name is Barry, and I’m a PETA member. With the growing climate catastrophe, it’s clear that good investments will be aligned with environmental responsibility. I’m glad Southwest is committed to reducing its carbon footprint with a mix of long-term planning and short-term action. But I’m surprised that it hasn’t taken the simple step of adding vegan coffee creamers on flights when they’re better for the environment, human health, and animals than cow’s milk. The dairy industry has a massive carbon footprint—even Starbucks admits this—and cow’s milk requires more than 12 times more land to produce than oat milk and 23 times more water than soy milk. It’s not surprising that the demand for vegan alternatives is skyrocketing. Adding vegan creamers on flights would be a great way for Southwest to capitalize on the booming demand for climate- and animal-friendly vegan offerings. I’m wondering this: When will Southwest keep up with consumer demand by adding vegan creamer to all flights?

My name’s Chris, and I’m a PETA member. Whenever I travel with Southwest, I appreciate that our company makes guests feel welcome with complimentary beverages like coffee. But I recently learned that dairy is a top allergen and that the majority of Asian, Native American, Black, and Latine populations suffer from lactose intolerance. Yet Southwest only offers dairy-based creamer. Given that inclusion has always been at the heart of Southwest, adding vegan creamer options on flights would be a no-brainer that would foster a more inclusive experience for guests. Dairy-free creamers are standard options at the nation’s largest coffee chains, and many people prefer nondairy options like oat, soy, or coconut milk over cow’s milk, because they want to reduce the suffering of the countless cows who are abused and killed in the dairy industry. My question today is this: When will Southwest make the inclusive and animal-friendly move of adding vegan coffee creamer to its flights?