Sustainability challenges in airlines contemporary environmental management

Abstract

Environmental concerns attract growing attention in aviation. Airlines and other aviation stakeholders are increasingly committed to more environmentally friendly operations. This paper aims to expand the understanding of the airlines' environmental attitudes and map best practices in the sector. To achieve this goal, the authors followed a two-stage analysis. Initially, a number of interviews were conducted with a focus group of key respondents from six Greek airlines, to draw the general picture of their environmental awareness. In the second stage, the authors studied the market's dominant airlines as a case to gain a deeper understanding of how an Environmental Management System (EMS) is deployed in practice and to allow for best practices to emerge. The research findings highlight the need for EMSs to become an integral part of airlines' operational strategy and the imperative for an articulate regulatory framework able to enhance the airlines' eco-path through concrete guidelines and knowledge exchange.