AIRLINE ENVIRONMENTAL CREDENTIALS

Environmental Credentials of Airline



Environmental Credentials of Airline

Introduction

Aviation is considered as a significant contributor to environmental pollution. The environmental impacts of airlines include emissions of gasses, particulate and noise. Although, the airlines are seeking ways to minimize their environmental impact by incorporating fuel-efficient engines and waste management techniques, there is a rapid growth in air travel causing a remarkable increase in environmental impact of aviation (Agrawal, 2004, 149).

While choosing an airline, a typical passenger would go to Skytrax, look at the available best rated flying options. The decision of a typical passenger would be based on the flight fare, the seats, the food and the in-flight entertainment. Most of times, a typical passenger, would rarely consider the environmental credentials of the airline they travel with. However, there are certain things that someone seriously concerned about environmental issues, must keep in mind while choosing an airline. The fuel-efficiency, noise, emissions at the airport or maintenance-base, the practices regarding fuel management, clean-up and de-icing fluid management of aircraft are some areas that compromise of the environmental impact of airlines.

We checked the environmental credentials of some famous airlines around the world. This paper presents a review of the environmental credentials of four airlines, from the perspective of a typical passenger as well as from the viewpoint of an environmentally responsible individual.

British Airways

From the perspective of a typical passenger, the British Airways is a four star airline. One can expect standard level of flight fare, comfort on seats, quality and quantity of food and in-flight entertainment at the flight. However, their economy class flights are not considered satisfactory enough to travel (Bossink, 2004, 211).

From a pragmatic perspective, the webpage of British Airways corporate social responsibility presents their commitment of remaining environment friendly. They are aware of the hazards of the carbon emission and noise pollution by aircraft. British Airways are working to have more fuel efficient and less noise generating aircraft. They have formulated a strategy to eliminate the amount of their landfill waste to zero. They are striving to keep tracking and minimizing their carbon footprint gradually by the 2050 (Bossink, 2004, 211).

For this purpose, they have shown how the latest Boeing 787 is more fuel efficient and less noise generating as compared to the previous versions of the air crafts. The latest aircraft, Boeing 787 and Airbus A380, are claimed to be quieter than the former aircraft of the airline. Both the air crafts burn lesser fuel and emit lesser amount of hazardous gasses than the Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 767. They are also taking commendable steps to reduce their waste by shifting most of their paper work to online.

The webpage of British Airways also highlights how they are engaged into the responsible practices of recycling and responsible waste disposal. An environmentally concerned passenger would prefer to fly with British Airways as they tend to satisfy the requirements of remaining responsible for the environment. The environmental credentials of British Airways depict a complete picture of their environmental responsibility; there was ...